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A-Maze-Ing
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Maze - Top Down
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1 or 2 VS / Co-Op
Programmer: Kevin Kenney
_________________________
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As the name implies, A-Maze-Ing is a maze game, but with a twist: you control a mouse who has to make its way through an actual maze. Options include "Cheese Hunt" (collect 10 pieces of cheese in the right order before you are shown the exit), "Escape Maze" (Get to the exit as fast as you can), "Mouseholes" (shortcuts through the maze walls) or "Obstacles" (which blocks the center of the passages), whether there are cats (and how many) in the maze, how fast they are, and whether the cats are smart or dumb. Try to beat your own best time, or play with another player choosing between co-operative or competitive play.

Trivia:

A-Maze-Ing, Hunt The Wumpus, and Blasto were all initially going to be bundled on one cartridge. However, programmer Kevin Kenney took these games and added a bunch of extra features to them, turning them into viable stand alone cartridge products. In the end this was a great move by Kevin since all of them went on to become top sellers on the 99/4A system, bringing in more money than what TI would have gotten with an all-in-one watered down combo cartridge.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/a-maze-ing
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Adventure Series
Alternative title: Scott Adams' Adventure Series
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Scott Adams
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This value pack collects the twelve Scott Adams Classic Adventures in their all-text format with the original IBM PC interpreter. The following games comprise the package:

Adventureland
Ghost Town
Golden Voyage
Mystery Fun House
Pirate Adventure
Pyramid of Doom
Savage Island Part One
Savage Island Part Two
Secret Mission (aka Mission Impossible)
Strange Odyssey
The Count
Voodoo Castle

Trivia:

Collector's edition

Shortly after these twelve games' original release in the early 1980s, Adventure International published a special collector's edition in a faux-leather and plastic case. This was the first computer game package to be sold specifically as a collector's item. It contained a glossy photo of Scott Adams and an individually-numbered certificate of authenticity, signed by him. The certificate guaranteed replacement of any defective media if it should fail prior to 10th July 2001.
Release history

Starsoft packaged disks for four computer platforms - Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, and IBM PC - in the same box for this release.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/adventure-series
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Adventure Series 13+
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Tex-Comp
Players: 1
Programmer: Scott Adams
_________________________
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This compilation, created exclusively for the TI, contains all the remaining Scott Adams adventures after the first dozen (except Fantastic Four), as well as some originals available on the TI only:

June Lake
Loose
Spider-Man
Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
The Hulk

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/adventure-series-13
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Adventureland
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Disk
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Scott Adams
_________________________
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Adventureland is the first of Scott Adams' text adventures. Using simple two word commands you explore an enchanted world, solve puzzles and try to recover 13 lost treasures. 

The game's display is different from other adventure games like Zork: The Great Underground Empire in that the screen is divided into two "windows": the room description, exits, and items appear on the top part of the screen, and you enter commands on the bottom of the screen.

Trivia:

Alexis Adams

Frustrated and fed up with her husband's preoccupation with his homebrew microcomputer text adventuring system, his wife (and later Adventure International contributor) Alexis Adams hid the master floppy disks of his source code in various spots around the house -- culminating in his finding them in the oven one night, apparently ultimately without the intended, destructive effect. She jokes about the incident: "I guess [it] should have been the start of the first Adventure.

>GO KITCHEN
ALL I SEE HERE IS AN OVEN, A SINK, AND A COUNTER.
>LOOK OVEN
A SCREAM IS HEARD AS THE OVEN OPENS. EEEK ITS MR ADAMS SCREAMING 'OH NO MY DISKS ALLLLLLLLLLLLEXIS'"
Demo

An Adventureland Demo package was released in 1979. It is a sampler of the original game, brought to the market as a retail demo. As a cut-down version it contains 3 treasures.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/adventureland
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Alpiner
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Arcade - Vertical
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
Programmer: Janet Srimushnam
_________________________
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Alpiner is a third-person action game in which the player's goal is to climb safely to the top of various mountains. Each of the six mountains the player climbs has various obstacles which should be avoided; falling rocks, avalanches, wild animals, trees, and brush fires can all hinder progress. Being hit by these obstacles will cause the player to lose progress, falling down part of the mountain (some obstacles cause a short falling distance, others a long distance). Should the player fall all of the way to the bottom of the mountain a life will be lost. To help anticipate obstacles, voice synthesis provide a warning when danger is near. Each mountain has a time limit in which it must be climbed, though the timer only counts down when the climber isn't moving. As the player progresses through the levels the mountains become higher and obstacles become faster and more numerous.

Trivia:

There are 6 mountains to climb in Alpiner (Hood, Matterhorn, Kenya, McKinley, Garmo, and Everest) and the elevations for each of them in the game are their actual (real world) heights.     

Most people have heard of all the mountains in this game except for Mt. Garmo. Well, a little research shows that Mt. Garmo is actually the original name for Ismoili Somoni Peak in Tajikistan (named in 1998). Back in the early 80's when Alpiner was programmed, the moutain was called Communism Peak and was the highest point in the former USSR. One just has to use a little imagination to understand why the decision was made to go with the original (pre-Soviet) name of the mountain! 

Secret Alert! Pressing the buttons "* # *" (in that sequence) on the cartridge's title screen allows the player to choose how many lives he/she wants to start out with (from 1-9) and the level of difficulty (from 1-18). However, the word "Test" is displayed on the bottom left of the screen once this cheat is enabled. Therefore, you will be hard pressed to try and convince your friends that you were able to get to level 18 in Alpiner without cheating! 


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/alpiner
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Ambulance
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Funware
Publisher: Funware
Players: 1
Programmer: Ken Stevenson
_________________________
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Race through the city to save ailing citizens while avoiding cars and approaching trains. Can you get your patients to the hospital in time, or will they be dead on arrival?

Trivia:

In 1983 there were as many as 3 companies interested in buying out Funware, those being Activision, Epyx, and Creative Software. In the end Funware was sold to Creative Software, but, both Epyx and Activision would later give a go at marketing TI-99/4A games independently near the end of 1983.

According to Michael Brouthers, it only cost Funware $4 US to make each cartridge game!
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Anteater
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Romox
Publisher: Romox
Players: 1
_________________________
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The object of the game is survival. You gain points by moving the ant with the joystick from the colony to the food on the surface and back to the colony. However, when the ant breaks through the surface, he exposes himself to the deadly anteater...
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Attack, The
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Sci-Fi
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Tom Pettingill
_________________________
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Originally called "Alien Attack," this game pits the player against alien "spores." Although the spores themselves are harmless, they can join together to form giant aliens that chase you down and eat you. To make matters more interesting, scattered around the playing field are a number of "incubators," which can hatch either more spores or, at later levels (or in early levels, in more advanced difficulty levels), more aliens. Use your ship's weapons to blast the spores before they can make new aliens, and blast any aliens before they can devour you.

Trivia:

This game started out at Milton Bradley as ALIEN ®, and was to be based on the 1979 movie by the same name (could this be the first video game/movie tie-in?). However, the name was later changed to The Attack when TI took over Milton Bradley's MB-1 Game System. Most likely, the name change occured to avoid licencing fees. The only known ALIEN ® prototype is in the posession of former MB employee Anthony Cote.

A prototype version of the game exists with different theme music and some slight variations in gameplay. A complete review of this prototype can be found by clicking on the link to the left. Be sure to check it out since The Attack was one of the more popular TI-99/4A video games and it's always interesting to read up on the lost history of this Milton Bradley classic.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/attack_
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B-1 Nuclear Bomber
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Genre: Simulation - Flight
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Microcomputer Games, Inc.
Publisher: The Avalon Hill Game Company
Players: 1
Programmer: M. Evan Brooks
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In B-1, you have to "fly" a B-1 bomber to it's destination, and destroy the target of the mission. 

You input text commands to control your bomber's altitude, course, radar, weapons, and so on. And, of course, the USSR will try to stop you from bombing their targets, with an arsenal of MiGs and SAMs, and they are dealt with by the use of electronic counter-measures, evasive actions, or by shooting them down.

The game ends when it reaches a logical conclusion, either by deploying your bombs and getting far enough away, returning to base, or being destroyed. After this, you get a short summary, and an option to play again.

Trivia:

Discontinuation

Avalon Hill discontinued B-1 Nuclear Bomber in 1986.
Quotes

M. Evan Brooks about the game:

Its play mechanics are embarrassing in the contemporary market; in fact, its play mechanics were embarrassing when it was initially released.

M. Evan Brooks is an avid wargamer who retired with more than thirty years of service in the U.S. Army and National Guard. He is a contributor to numerous war-game and professional military publications.
Avalon Hill was an early entrnt in the computer gaming field, but their initial productions, such as B-1 Bomber and Midway Campaign, were disappointing given Avalon Hill's enviable reputation in the realm of conventional board wargames. The early Avalon Hill games lacked color and were less engrossing than the company's experience in game design warranted.

- Brian J. Murphy (Creative Computing Vol. 9, N. 9, September 1983, page 192).
Awards

Charles Roberts Award
1980 - Nominee as Best Computer Wargame

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/b-1-nuclear-bomber
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BASIC Fun - Computer Games, Puzzles, And Problems Children Can Write
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Type-In
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Educational
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Avalon Books
Publisher: Avalon Books
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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Amongst many non-interactive introductory type-in BASIC programs intended to get young programmers started, this book includes a few simple games:

Spelling (as described, TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE MISSING LETTERS IN THIS WORD);

You Are A Detective, a very short choose-your-own-adventure mystery;

Shell Game ("needless to say, the computer's 'hand' is definitely quicker than your eye!");

Dice Game;

Number Guessing Game (which of two players guesses closest to the number the computer picked?);

Number Sequences (what should the next number in this sequence be?);

How Warm Is Your Heart (a re-skinned number guessing game filling in temperature for proximity to the number);

War (the card game);

Pinball (a highly abstract representation);

Paper, Rock, Scissors;

Ring the Bell (simulating the carnival sideshow game);

Lifeguard (pick a number and maybe the life preserver you throw reaches the drowning swimmer);

Sea Battle (aka Battleship);

Math Quiz;

Tennis (again, highly abstracted);

Ski Weekend (choose the right jobs to earn the money needed to go on vacation in six weeks!;

and Backpack (attempt to win a cross-country hiking race without running out of food and water)
In addition to the platforms mentioned here, the BASIC programs included were intended to run, with minimal amendment, on the BASIC versions found on the HP-2000 and Osborne lines of computers.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/basic-fun-computer-games-puzzles-and-problems-children-can-write
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Bigfoot
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Milton Bradley Co.
Players: 1
Programmer: Warren Amerman
_________________________
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It's 50 degrees below zero, your guide is nowhere to be found, and you are clinging to a snowy ledge by a rather shaky-looking piton. Can you make it to the top of the mountain, collect food and gold on your way up, and cage the raging Bigfoot?

Trivia:

This game can be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it.
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Blackjack & Poker
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Card Game - Blackjack - Poker
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1 thru 4 VS
_________________________
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Card games and computers seem to go hand-in-hand. TI's offering, "Blackjack & Poker," allows you to play Blackjack or Stud Poker against the computer, or with up to three other players. The Blackjack game has most of the features of real Blackjack, except for the "split" option. The Stud Poker game pits you against three other players (human, computer or both), and follows the rules for 5-Card Stud. Will you break the bank, or lose your shirt? Only Lady Luck knows for sure!

Trivia:

This game was originally scheduled to be released in 1979 as part of Milton Bradley's Gamevision series under the title Card Sharp. However, for unknown reasons the game was never put out by MB during that time. Instead, the game was later renamed Blackjack & Poker and released through TI in 1981.  

Don't let the copyright on the title screen fool you! Even though the screen says (C) 1980 Texas Instruments, it is actually a 1979 Milton Bradley game which was put out through TI's lines. One speculation on the copyright change is that a bug was found in the program which MB (in 1979) was not able to figure out, but TI was later (in 1980) able to solve. Therefore, TI put their name on the copyright since MB most likely had given up on the program and allowed TI to rebrand the game.

A game called Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack was released for the Mattel Intellivision in 1980, a year before Blackjack & Poker hit the market. 


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/blackjack-poker
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Blasto
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Arcade - Action - Tank
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1 or 2 VS
Licensed from: Sega/Gremlin
Programmer: Elaine Henshon, Bob Harris
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1 or 2 players each control a tank in this top-down game. The object is to clear as many mines and obstacles as you can before the timer runs out. But watch out! If you're too close to a mine when you shoot it, you'll blow up your own tank! And in a two-player game, you also have to be careful not to run into the other tank -- or get into its line of fire!

Trivia:

This game is a port of the 1978 Sega/Gremlin Arcade game Blasto, making it one of the earliest Sega arcades brought to the home. The game itself is pretty much identical to the Sega/Gremlin original, except for the alteration to the battle vehicles. In the arcade, you "drive" spaceships on a type of space minefield. Apparently, Milton Bradley thought it would make more sense to the public (and perhaps sell more copies) if the game took place on a minefield, where the player would control a tank. Personally, I think the space theme was more unique, but can understand the change that arose most likely due to marketing reasons. Still, a faithful arcade translation by Milton Bradley. .

This game would be the first programming job done by Robert S. Harris (AKA RoSHa) before going on to create games for the Odyssey2, his most famous title being the well-known Killer Bees!  According to Bob, this game was first started by Elaine Henshon, but for unknown reasons she stopped working on it. He speculates that the reason for this was because Elaine was busy working on 3 other TI-99/4A titles at the time for Milton Bradley, and could not meet the upcoming deadline for the project if she was working on 4 titles all at once.

Blasto, Hunt The Wumpus, and A-Maze-Ing were all initially going to be bundled on one cartridge. However, programmer Kevin Kenney took these games and added a bunch of extra features to them, turning them into viable stand alone cartridge products. In the end this was a great move by Kevin since all of them went on to become top sellers on the 99/4A system, bringing in more money than what TI would have gotten with an all-in-one watered down combo cartridge.

The European Manual for this game incorrectly states the product number as  PHM 3023, when it should be PHM 3032. As seen in the European manual scan above, someone crossed this error out and fixed it themselves. .
 Interested in playing an updated version of Blasto right on your own PC? Thanks to a TI-99/4A gaming enthusiast you now can! The revised game is called Blasto 3D and is very faithful to the TI-99/4A conversion of the Sega/Gremlin arcade.  The only sad news is that it is for PC only and not Macintosh. Hopefully in the future it will be ported to the Mac, but for those who use PC's I seriously recommend you download and give this game a try.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/blasto_
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Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Shoot 'em Up - Arcade - Third Person
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: SEGA Enterprises Ltd.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Licensed from: Sega
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Fast and furious racing game taking place on a futuristic racetrack. Guide your spaceship between the pylons and shoot down other enemy racers.

Based on the arcade game (which is even more loosely based on the Buck Rogers comic strips).

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/buck-rogers-planet-of-zoom
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Burger Builder
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Platform
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Software Specialties, Inc
Publisher: DataBiotics
Players: 1
_________________________
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Burger Builder is an action platform game similar to BurgerTime. You control a chef, and your goal is to make burgers! The screen consists of various platforms which contain the ingredients you'll need: buns, burgers, and lettuce. When your chef walks over an ingredient, it will fall to the level below. When all the ingredients in a column fall to the bottom of the screen, you'll have a complete hamburger; complete all of the hamburgers on the screen, and you can move on to the next level. Unlike BurgerTime, the ingredients won't cascade downward; there needs to be an open space below for an ingredient to fall into so you'll have to work your way from the bottom of the screen upwards. Of course, there are enemies (in the forms of burgers, pickles, cheese, and mushrooms) that wander about to make your task more difficult! Each platform has an enemy which wanders back and forth; although they can be crushed by falling ingredients (for bonus points), they will appear again and be faster than before! Your only defense against the various opponents is to avoid them.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/burger-builder
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BurgerTime
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action - Platform
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Data East Corporation
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Licensed from: Data East Corporation
Programmer: John M. Phillips
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You play as Chef Pepper and your goal is to make giant hamburgers while evil eggs, sausages and pickles chase you around the game area. 

To properly make a hamburger you must assemble all of the ingredients together, dropping them from higher up onto the the burger area below. To actually do this you have to let Chef Pepper step all over the burger ingredients. As soon as an ingredient (a piece of lettuce for instance) has been stepped on, it will fall to the next level below. Falling food will squish any enemy following you and will also"bump" any other ingredient bellow it farther down. Also, as an emergency defense against the enemy food, you can collect pepper shakers which will allow you to puff out a small pepper cloud which will momentarily stun enemies, allowing you to walk past them.

Higher levels result in new level design, faster enemies and more ingredients to assemble.

The PlayStation 2 version is a port of the original arcade game and comes with a soundtrack disc, a 
DVD, a guide book and some other bonuses.

Trivia:

Egg

Ever wondered why one of the evil guys is an egg? In Japan where the game was made, it is common to add a fried egg to your burger.

Easter Egg Alert!  If you press the " * " button on the title screen, a message will pop up that says "Code Modifications by John M Phillips." John Phillips debugged this video game at TI and was famous for adding cheat modes to the games he worked on which allowed the player to select the number of lives he wanted to start with and which screen to start on. Even though Burgertime does not have a cheat mode, John Phillips did manage to let video game players know that he was involved with the development of the game by including this little message.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/burgertime
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CannonBall Blitz
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Platform
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Sierra On-Line
Publisher: Sierra On-Line
Players: 1
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The player has to reach the flag on the top. The guard sends the cannonballs down, so you must jump over them. Cannonballs roll on the floors which have hatches, that open randomly. Also cannonballs fall on the swings, so you have to use them for climbing to the upper floor. Finally you must catch the balloon to make your way up to the flag and to the next level. Moving options available are up, down, left, right and jump.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/cannonball-blitz
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Car Wars
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Racing - Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Jim Dramis
_________________________
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In this combination racing game and maze game, you have to maneuver your race car around the track, clearing the dots from all five lanes. The catch is, there's another car (controlled by the computer) driving around the track, in the opposite direction, bent on stopping you. You have to be quick with the lane changes, or the computer car will crash into you. You start with three cars, and can gain extra cars by clearing all the dots from the track. But watch out! The computer adds an an additional opponent on the third round, and another every second round after that!

Trivia:

This game is a clone of the arcade games Crash! (Exidy, 1979) and Head On (Sega/Gremlin, 1979). Not sure on which actually came out first as both appeared in the arcades the same year. In addition to making its appearance on the TI-99/4A, this game also made its way to the Atari 2600 in 1980, under the name Dodge 'Em.

This was the first game Jim Dramis would program for TI, before going on to create the highly praised space-shooter Parsec.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/car-wars
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Centipede
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Shoot 'em Up - Arcade - Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Atari
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1
Licensed from: Atari
Programmer: James G. Landowski
_________________________
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In Centipede, the player is trapped in the Enchanted Forest. Armed with only a magic wand to ward off the forest's insect denizens, all of which apparently are attacking in the player in continuous waves. 

The player must use the magic wand to shoot sparks at approaching insects to score points by pressing the controller button. Holding down the controller button will set the wand to rapid fire shots. If the player is bitten by an insect, the player will be temporarily paralyzed and lose one of the three starting magic wands. 

Insect Opponents and Mushrooms

All enemy insects have a distinctive sound before attacking, which may help the player identify which insect is attacking. Enemies and objects in the game are as the following:

The Centipede

The Centipede will attack in 12 waves. In the first wave, the Centipede will have a head attached to 11 body segments. In the second wave, the Centipede will have a head attached to 10 body segments, in addition to a detached head. The third wave will have the Centipede with an attached head, 9 body segments, plus two detached heads. These body segments will transform into heads and continue to do so until Wave 12. In the last wave, the Centipede will have 12 detached heads, independently attacking the player. Centipede heads are worth more points than body segments.

Attacks from the Centipede will come from the top of the screen, moving downward. If a spark hits any part of the Centipede, that particular body segment will transform into a mushroom, while the body segment behind it will become the new Centipede head. When the Centipede is destroyed, it will briefly disappear and re-appear from the top of the screen again.

The Spider

The Spider will attempt to distract the player from attacking the Centipede. It will destroy any mushroom it touches. Spiders will score more points if it is hit in closer distances.

The Flea

The Flea will appear if the player has destroyed most of the existing mushrooms. It will drop down creating a new batch of mushrooms where it falls. The Flea will disappear after two hits. After the first hit, the Flea will drop down much faster.

The Scorpion

The Scorpion will appear in the third wave. It moves slowly but will pick up speed, moving faster. While doing so, it will poison any mushroom it touches.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms fill the Enchanted Forest and may act as obstacles or cover for the player, with added effects to enemy insects. It takes for shots to complete destroy a mushroom. There are two type of mushrooms: Magic Mushrooms and Poisonous mushrooms. Magic mushrooms are the default mushrooms in the game and are also the the result of the player destroying an insect or Centipede body segment. Poisonous Mushrooms are the result of the Scorpion touching a mushroom. Poisonous Mushrooms will prompt the Centipede near it to move straight towards the player through any mushroom. Losing a wand will restore any partially damaged mushroom.

Game Difficulty and Variations

The game offers four difficulty levels: Novice, Standard, Advanced, and Expert. Game Variations are as the following:

One Player

Two Player Alternating
Two players will take turns when the active player is bitten.

Dual Player Competition
Two players will appear on the screen at the same time. Scoring is separate. Shots fired from one player will paralyze the other player.

Team Play
Two players will appear on the screen at the same time. Scoring is combined. Shots fired from one player will not paralyze the other player.

Scoring

The player will win a bonus magic wand for every 12,000 points to a maximum of six wands. The game will end when all wands are lost. Scoring are as the following:

Centipede Head - 100 points
Centipede Body Segment - 10 points
Spider at close range - 900 points
Spider at medium range - 600 points
Flea - 200 points
Scorpion - 1,000 points
Flea - 200 points
Restored mushroom - 5 points
Destroyed mushroom - 1 points

Board game
In 1983, Milton Bradley adapted this video game into a board game.

Comic
DC Comics created a Centipede comic that was included with Atari's Centipede game. Here is that comic from AtariAge.com.

Launch game
Centipede was one of the "Fabulous Eleven" launch games for the Atari 7800.

References to the game
Centipede was popular enough to have a song inspired by it on the full-length Pac-Man Fever album - Ode To A Centipede.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/centipede_
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Championship Baseball
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Sports - Baseball
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Dwayne Jeffery, Dave Winzler
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t's the bottom of the 9th, the bases are loaded and there's 2 outs. It all comes down to you to deliver the Grand Slam and bring everyone home. You step up to the plate, grasp the bat firmly, and take a mighty swing as the ball barrels towards home...Crack! you send the ball flying...It's going, it's going, it's gone!

Trivia:

Championship Baseball was Milton Bradley's flagship game for the MBX gaming add-on. It was this game which was shown extensively at the January 1983 CES show and also was pictured on all MBX promotional material (such as the MBX Cartridge Catalog pictured at the bottom of this page).
 This game along with I'm Hiding and Terry Turtle's Adventure were offered for sale as 3rd party cartridges from Milton Bradley in addition to being sold through TI (this page is for the version sold through TI). The 3rd party releases came with different labels and cases than the cartridge pictured on this page. The 3 titles MB offered for sale independent of TI were the ones that required an MBX system in order to run, which helps explain why MB would have sold these as a 3rd party since they were responsible for manufacturing the actual MBX system. The 3rd party releases are extremely hard to come by, as only one MB release has been found to date and that being I'm Hiding.

This game MUST be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it. Since Championship Baseball was designed around all these features, you must have the MBX plugged into the TI-99/4A to play this game.
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Chisholm Trail
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Action - Top Down
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: John Plaster
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Drive your cattle along the famous Chisholm Trail in this top-down arcade-style game from TI. Use the keyboard or joysticks to maneuver your steer around the playing field. But watch out for rustlers who want to steal your cattle, and wranglers who want to put their own brands on your stock. Features 9 levels of difficulty.

Trivia:

Secret Code Alert!  If you press the buttons "* # *" (in that sequence) when the game prompts you for the starting level, it will take you to a cheat mode where you can choose the specific "Day" (there are 7 days per level) and number of ships you want. There is a catch however, when you are playing the game in this cheat mode the word "TEST" is displayed on the top left of the screen. Therefore, you would be hard pressed to convince somebody that you are really good at Chisholm Trail without them knowing you cheated! Thanks to CyberTaco for pointing this cheat out to us.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/chisholm-trail
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Congo Bongo
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action - Isometric
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: SEGA Corporation
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Licensed from: Sega
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Congo Bongo is an arcade platform game similar in many ways to Donkey Kong, but with an isometric perspective. The player takes control of a safari hunter who is searching for an ape named Bongo, determined to punish him for setting the hunter's tent on fire. The game consists of four one-screen stages, each with an objective to jump on platforms and reach the top. Various animals will try to stop the protagonist: for example, in the first level a large gorilla throws coconuts at him. The hero has no offensive abilities and must jump or otherwise avoid enemy attacks. Stages may contain obstacles or hazardous spots that would kill off the main character.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/congo-bongo
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Connect Four
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Board Game
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1979
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1 or 2 VS
Programmer: Elaine Henshon
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Try to connect four checkers in a row - horizontally, vertically, or diagonally - as you develop your own winning strategy with this mind-teasing game!

Trivia:

This game was part of the Milton Bradley Gamevision series, which consisted of 7 cartridges (Connect Four, Yahtzee, Hangman, Zero Zap, Card Sharp, Stratego, and the Gamevision Demonstration Cartridge ). These 7 cartridges were the launch titles for the TI-99/4 in 1979.
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Count, The
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Designer: Scott Adams
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You awaken in a sealed wing of the Count's Transylvanian castle, seemingly restrictive but yielding further avenues of secret passages and unexpected exits to the intrepid and timely explorer. Over the course of a few days you need to cultivate a familiarity with the layout of the castle and the nocturnal activities of its primary resident, who chooses to make midnight snacks of you rather than a main course. An unpredictable day/night cycle forces your hand, necessitating finding a reliable light source and some means of staying awake -- or else you awaken the next morning back in bed, your possessions pilfered by the kleptomaniacal creature of the night and your neck boasting irritated bite marks. Each day you must incrementally approach your goal of overcoming the Count, lest you wind up as one more dried-out apéritif.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/count
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Cutthroats
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Disk
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Infocom, Inc.
Publisher: Infocom, Inc.
Players: 1
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You live on small seaport Island called Hardscrabble -- hardly the hip place to be. Working as a professional scuba diver, you have the chance to salvage a sunken treasure from one of four shipwrecks, earn the respect of all the old farts and become wealthy beyond all imagination.

Trivia:

Packaging

Cutthroats was the first Infocom game to come out in the famous gray box. Measuring 9" by 7 3/8" by 1", the package opens like a book to reveal the game manual, and the disk and package elements are packed in a re-closable transparent tray.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/cutthroats
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Defender
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Shooter - Side-Scrolling
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Williams Electronics Inc.
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1
Licensed from: Williams Electronics Inc.
Designer: Eugene Jarvis
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Defender put players in charge of a ship sent to protect mankind from wave after wave of attacking alien forces.

Armed with smart bombs and the ability to use hyperspace to move quickly around the planet, the player ship must fight against Bombers, Pods, Swarmers, Baiters, and Landers - that can capture the humanoids and transform them into deadly and relentless Mutants. Fail to save the humanoids from freefall or Mutant transformation, and the planet is destroyed.

Trivia:

References to the game

Defender a song inspired by it on the full-length Pac-Man Fever album - The Defender.
In the 1983 episode Smaller Than Life from the TV series Magnum P.I., a kid is seen playing Defender on an Atari 800.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/defender
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Demolition Division
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Educational - Puzzle
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Developmental Learning Materials
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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This arcade-style educational game pits you against a series of tanks that advance on your territory. Each tank has a division problem on its side. Use the right answers to arm your anti-tank guns and destroy the tanks before they can reach your bunkers. But be careful! Wrong answers will cause your shot to miss. And don't relax too soon, because as soon as you destroy one tank, another pulls up to replace it!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/demolition-division
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Diablo
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Disk
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Strategy - Puzzle
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Extended Software
Publisher: Extended Software
Players: 1
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Diablo is a puzzle game with similarities to sliding block puzzles. Each level is composed of a number of tiles and every one has a part of a pipe (straight or angular) on it - except one which is just a black hole. In one tile a red ball starts rolling and all tiles it rolls through become blank. 

The goal of each level is to let the ball roll through all pipe parts without meeting the hole or a blank tile. To ensure this, the player can move the parts while using the hole as buffer. So, as example, if the player clicks on a tile which is a few tiles away from the hole, all tiles between the clicked tile and the hole are moved by one towards the hole. Then the hole is at the place where the player clicked on. At the start of a puzzle, rolling out of the level boundaries is also deadly, but after a certain amount of tiles are cleared the ball comes out at the opposite side of the playfield.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/diablo_
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Dig Dug
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Namco Limited
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1
Licensed from: Namco
Programmer: James G. Landowski
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Dig Dug is a 1-2 player arcade game in which you have to use your shovel to dig your way through the earth. Stopping you from doing this are two monsters, called Pooka and Fygar, who will continually chase you around. The only weapon that you carry is an air pump, which you can use to inflate the monsters to the point where they explode. (if you start to inflate them but stop doing so, the monsters will get turned back to their normal selves.) Furthermore, rocks are scattered throughout the earth, and you can use these rocks to squash them. If the monsters do not find you for several seconds, they will eventually get turned into ghosts, which are able to walk through the earth. They are invincible and cannot be killed. From time to time, vegetables will appear in the center, and you can get these for points.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/dig-dug
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Donkey Kong
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Platform - Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Ikegami Tsushinki Co., Ltd
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
Licensed from: Nintendo
Programmer: Douglas Brian Craig Howard E. Scheer
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Released in the arcades in 1981, Donkey Kong was not only Nintendo's first real smash hit for the company, but marked the introduction for two of their most popular mascots: Mario (originally "Jumpman") and Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong is a platform-action game that has Mario scale four different industrial themed levels (construction zone, cement factory, an elevator-themed level, and removing rivets from girders) in an attempt to save the damsel in distress, Pauline, from the big ape before the timer runs out. Once the rivets are removed from the final level, Donkey Kong falls, and the two lovers are reunited. From there, the levels start over at a higher difficulty.

Along the way, Mario must dodge a constant stream of barrels, "living" fireballs, and spring-weights. Although not as powerful as in other future games, Mario can find a hammer which allows him to destroy the barrels and fireballs for a limited amount of time. Additionally, Mario can also find Pauline's hat, purse and umbrella for additional bonus points.

Donkey Kong is also notable for being one of the first complete narratives in video game form, told through simplistic cut scenes that advance the story. It should also be noted that in versions of the game for early 1980's consoles, Donkey Kong only used 2-3 of the original levels, with the cement factory usually omitted.

Trivia:

Development

The game was designed as a Popeye game, however license agreements fell through and as a result Nintendo was forced to create their own characters.

Legacy

This is the game that changed the name of "Jumpman" to "Mario", a name which became one of the most famous in gaming history when the NES release hit the American market in 1986 featuring better graphics with more colors. It was popular enough to have a song inspired by it on the full-length "Pac-Man Fever" album - "Do The Donkey Kong". It also spawned a a Saturday morning TV cartoon based on it in the early 1980's and a breakfast cereal featuring sugary sweet corn cereal barrels.

Donkey Kong spawned two direct sequels: Donkey Kong Jr. and Donkey Kong 3. Mario Bros. is a spin-off featuring Mario. A sequel to the original arcade game on the Game Boy, simply titled Donkey Kong, pairs Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Junior. It starts with the same damsel-in-distress premise and four basic locations as the arcade game then progresses to 97 additional puzzle-based levels.

Nintendo revived the Donkey Kong license in the 1990s for a series of platform games and spin-offs developed by Rare, beginning with Donkey Kong Country in 1994. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (2005) is the latest in this series. In 2004, Nintendo released Mario vs. Donkey Kong, a sequel to the Game Boy title. In it, Mario must chase Donkey Kong to get back the stolen Mini-Mario toys. In the follow-up Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Donkey Kong once again falls in love with Pauline and kidnaps her, and Mario uses the Mini-Mario toys to help him rescue her. 

In 2004, Nintendo released the first of the Donkey Konga games, a series that involves a rhythm-based bongo controller. In 2007, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast was released for the Wii. Super Smash Bros.: Brawl features music from the game arranged by Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka and a stage called "75m", an almost exact replica of its Donkey Kong namesake. While the stage contains her items, Pauline is missing from her perch at the top of the stage.

This iconic game has also seen a few non-electronic home conversions: Milton Bradley adapted it into a board game in 1982 and a card game in 1983; in 2008, a DK-themed version of Jenga also was released.

Name origin

The name Donkey Kong is not Japanese, as it is widely believed. Instead, it is a combination of two words: The first word is supposed to stand for something that is hard to deal with: A mule, or donkey. The second word stems from King Kong. Hence, Donkey Kong.
References to the game

The influence on American popular culture can be shown with the numerous times Donkey Kong gets referenced in other media:

In 1982, Buckner and Garcia and R. Cade and the Video Victims both recorded songs based on the game. Artists like DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and Trace Adkins referenced the game in songs.
The game was referenced in an episode of Fairly Odd Parents.

In the movie, Billy Madison, Billy refers to Donkey Kong as the best video game ever, combating a 1st grader who said Mortal Kombat was the best.

Donkey Kong is referenced in the Futurama episode Anthology of Interest II. The episode consists of three shorts; one of which involves Fry asking the "what-if" machine "what if life was more like a video game." In the short, Donkey Kong is one of the aliens that invades Earth. Mario also makes an appearance as the ambassador from Italy.

In a 1997 episode of The Simpsons TV show titled "The Springfield Files", at the Noiseland Arcade, Donkey Kong sits in a chair on top a stand with a sign saying "Friday Meet Donkey Kong in Person." While holding a cigarette, DK picks a bug off his leg and eats it. Then, the Manager walks by and sees noone is there to see DK and says "Sorry Donkey Kong, you're just not a draw anymore." Kong replies angrily by throwing a barrel on top of the man knocking him down. "Hey! He's still got it!" observes the man from the ground.

The 2007 motion picture documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters explores the world of competitive classic arcade gaming and tells the story of Steve Wiebe's quest to beat Billy Mitchell's world high score in Donkey Kong.

Even today, sound effects from the Atari 2600 version often serve as generic video game sounds in films and television shows

In the 1983 episode Smaller Than Life from the TV series Magnum P.I., a kid is seen playing Donkey Kong on an Atari 800.

Universal lawsuit

Nintendo's success with Donkey Kong was not without obstacles. In April 1982, Sid Sheinberg, a seasoned lawyer and president of MCA and Universal City Studios, learned of the game's success and suspected it might be a trademark infringement of Universal's own King Kong. On April 27, 1982, he met with Arnold Greenberg of Coleco and threatened to sue over Coleco's home version of Donkey Kong. Coleco agreed on May 3, 1982 to pay royalties to Universal of 3% of their Donkey Kong's net sale price, worth about $4.6 million.

Meanwhile, Sheinberg revoked Tiger's license to make its King Kong game, but O. R. Rissman refused to acknowledge Universal's claim to the trademark. When Universal threatened Nintendo, Howard Lincoln and Nintendo refused to cave. In preparation for the court battle ahead, Universal agreed to allow Tiger to continue producing its King Kong game as long as they distinguished it from Donkey Kong.

Universal officially sued Nintendo on June 29, 1982 and announced its license with Coleco. The company sent cease and desist letters to Nintendo's licensees, all of which agreed to pay royalties to Universal except Milton Bradley and Ralston Purina.

Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo, Co., Ltd. was heard in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by Judge Robert W. Sweet. Over seven days, Universal's counsel, the New York firm Townley & Updike, argued that the names King Kong and Donkey Kong were easily confused and that the plot of the game was an infringement on that of the films. Nintendo's counsel, John Kirby, countered that Universal had themselves argued in a previous case that King Kong's scenario and characters were in the public domain. Judge Sweet ruled in Nintendo's favor, awarding the company Universal's profits from Tiger's game ($56,689.41), damages, and attorney's fees.

Universal appealed, trying to prove consumer confusion by presenting the results of a telephone survey and examples from print media where people had allegedly assumed a connection between the two Kongs. On October 4, 1984, however, the court upheld the previous verdict.

Nintendo and its licensees filed counterclaims against Universal. On May 20, 1985, Judge Sweet awarded Nintendo $1.8 million for legal fees, lost revenues, and other expenses. However, he denied Nintendo's claim of damages from those licensees who had paid royalties to both Nintendo and Universal. Both parties appealed this judgment, but the verdict was upheld on July 15, 1986.

Nintendo thanked John Kirby with a $30,000 sailboat christened the Donkey Kong along with "exclusive worldwide rights to use the name for sailboats". More importantly, the court battle was a rite of passage for the company, teaching Nintendo that they could compete with the giants of the entertainment industry.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/donkey-kong
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Driving Demon
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Racing - Top Down
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Funware
Publisher: Funware
Players: 1
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Buckle up, snap your chin strap, adjust your goggles and get ready to handle a high powered formula racing machine. You'll need all the nerve, anticipation, and reflexes of a world champion race driver to master this circuit. It's you against the clock, the road, and the other drivers in a race to the finish line!

Trivia:

In 1983 there were as many as 3 companies interested in buying out Funware, those being Activision, Epyx, and Creative Software. As one might be able to tell from the box scan on this page, Funware was eventually sold to Creative Software. However, both Epyx and Activision would later give a go at marketing TI-99/4A games independently near the end of 1983.

According to Michael Brouthers, it only cost Funware $4 US to make each cartridge game!
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E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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Ouch! E.T. is lost on Earth and wants to get home. Help him get to his spaceship by crossing a busy highway, jumping across live animals, and hitching a ride on Elliott's bike. But beware of government agents and curious scientists who will sap E.T.'s precious energy before he reaches his goal.

Trivia:

As can be seen from the screen shots, this game is a clone of Frogger. The actual licensed arcade adaptation of Frogger was later put out by Parker Brothers.

This was the first E.T. title developed for the TI-99/4A under the contract signed between Steven Speilberg and Texas Instruments. There are 7 known E.T. titles to have been in the works back around 1983, this being the only title done in-house at TI. The other titles were contracted out to Looking Glass Software and Western Technologies.

According to Patrick King (who programmed another E.T. game on the 99/4A while with Western Technologies) there may be a reason why E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is so hard to find today or possibly never hit the market. According to him, "when Steven Spielberg walked into a room in Northern California and saw our line of E.T. 99/4A games on monitors running alongside the Atari 2600 E.T. game, he went ballistic & ordered the plug pulled on the Texas Instruments license and their 3 million dollar license fee refunded.  We suspect this happened because we had used the full powers of the TI 9918 chip (same chip used in Colecovision system) to make our games really look great and the Atari 2600 game on the old Intel 6502 chip looked pretty sad by comparison. Common sense told him that the line of TI-99/4A games should NOT be better looking and more interesting that the market leader 2600 version."
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Espial
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Shooter - Horizontal
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Orca Corporation
Publisher: Tigervision
Players: 1
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You are a space attack pilot flying at death range over a gigantic space ship. You must fight through the never ending waves of enemy craft while also firing missiles at the ship itself. Good luck!

You control your ship with the joystick. To fire, simply press the button. You will fire lasers and missiles simultaneously. The missiles will strike where the cross hair in front of your ship is at the time they are launched. Beware of shots fired at you and do not run into anything that flies.

Trivia:

This game is a port of the 1983 Orca arcade game Espial.

The first thing you might notice about the TI-99/4A version of Espial is its weird cartridge shape. This is due to the fact that it plugs into the system's expansion port (where the Speech Synthesizer plugs into) instead of the normal cartridge port. Most likely Tigervision did this because TI would not license out its GROM chips to many 3rd party developers. The GROM chip allowed for greater amounts of memory to be put onto a single cartridge, and without the chip you were limited to 8K of ROM. Therefore, in order to fit Espial onto a cartridge Tigervision had it plug into the expansion port, which allowed for more memory than standard cartridges.

There is a small red start button on the side of the cartridge casing, which can be used to start or restart the game. Interestingly, the Espial manual tells the player to push the red button on the cartridge in order to start the game instead of going through the cartridge selection screen. This leads one to believe that the start button was a way around TI's Version 2.2 consoles which blocked 3rd party cartridges from appearing on the selection screen. By using a button to start (and also reset) the game it completely bypassed any GROM check that the system might have had. Pretty ingenious idea!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/espial
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FaceMaker
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Educational
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Spinnaker Software Corporation
Publisher: Spinnaker Software Corporation
Players: 1
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Everyone's mothers always say "Don't make those faces! They'll stay like that!" But now you have the chance to make the silliest looking faces anyone's ever seen!

Choose from a wide assortment of eyes, ears, noses, and mouths. Then make your newly created faces blink, wiggle their ears, wink, or razz you. You can even play a "Simon Says.." type game where your face will do some kind of action and you have to follow along!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/facemaker
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Fantasy
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: SNK Electronics
Publisher: Rock-Ola
Players: 1
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Cheri, Tom the heroic adventurer's girlfriend, has just been captured by a band of nasty pirates. Help Tom rescue her by using his handy hot air balloon before its too late! Be careful though...the pirates might not be the only culprits behind this kidnapping!

Trivia:

This game is a port of the 1981 SNK arcade Fantasy (the game has a story driving it, which can be read about by clicking the link). It appears that Rock-Ola distributed this game in the U.S. for SNK.
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Fathom
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Neil McKinzie
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Neptina, Neptune's daughter, has been imprisoned at the bottom of the sea by Titans. Your goal is to rescue her by locating the scattered pieces of a magical trident! You will need to take the form of a dolphin and a bird in order to locate the pieces that are hidden in the ocean and clouds. When flying in the air, there are several screens that have clouds flying by. Touch all of the clouds, and the trident piece appears! Other birds which are flying around will cause you to lose energy if you touch them accidentally. Underwater, trident pieces can be found by touching the sea horses. Octopuses, sharks, and a deadly maze of seaweed will get in your way and cause you to lose energy if caught! When you have located all of the trident pieces, the cage holding Neptina can be unlocked, but if you run out of energy first the game will be over.

Trivia:

Imagic had a contest that if you could tell them how many tridents were hidden on the picture on the back of their box and in the poster advertising the game and contest and your entry was drawn, you could win $1000. Here is the poster. Whether anyone won the money is, as of 2012, unknown.

There are actually 9 levels of play in the TI-99/4A version of Fathom, compared to 7 levels on the Atari 2600. After getting through all 9 levels you are presented with a special message from the programmer.

The manual for the TI-99/4A version of Fathom actually has the picture flipped around. On all other versions of the game the mermaid's tail points to the right (such as on the Atari 2600 Box). It is also interesting to note that the TI-99/4A manual for Star Trek had it's picture flipped around as well. The reason why TI flipped some of the pictures around on their manuals is not known.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/fathom
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Football
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Sports - Football
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1979
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: David Coons
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You pick the plays, call the defense, snap the ball, while the computer simulates the game based on pro football statistics. Do you have the ability to craft a hall of fame team or one that will become an embarrassment to the game of Football?

Trivia:

According to David Coons, one summer a "student programmer came in during a weekend and instead of typing IN (INstall volume, the hard disk cartridge on which all of the project's code was located), typed INV (INitialize Volume) which formatted the disk. With no backup, we spent the next week retyping program code from old printouts." This goes to show why you should always backup your work, since you never know when a summer student might be coming in!
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Frogger
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action - Top Down
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Parker Brothers
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
Licensed from: Konami
Programmer: Todd Marshall
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Your task in this arcade conversion is to guide a frog across a treacherous road and river, and to safety at the top of the screen. Both these sections are fraught with a variety of hazards, each of which will kill the frog and cost you a life if contact is made.

The road is full of cars and trucks, at variable speeds. The river water itself is fatal, as are the snakes which hover within on later levels. Frogger must use the arrangement of logs, turtles (which are only there for a short time) and alligators (but stay away form their faces), and then jump into one of the open home-cells, ideally one containing a fly for extra points. Once all holes have been filled, you move onto the next, harder, level.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/frogger
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Galaxy
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Strategy - Top Down - Sci-Fi
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Microcomputer Games, Inc
Publisher: Avalon Hill Game Company
Players: 1
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As Fleet Admiral of a newly commissioned starship armada you send your ships from the home planet to explore the unknown resources of the stars. The planets circling those stars may be barren or they may have industrial capacity and will resist your colonization attempts. It is up to you whether to conquer and colonize those worlds, and convert them to producing new ships for continued expansion, and to bring the entire galaxy under your control. Galaxy can be played by as many as 20 players who compete against each other for control of up to 40 star systems. If you are playing multiplayer, the person controlling the most planets at game end is the winner. The computer produces a different galaxy every game.

Trivia:

Some fans of the game recreated it for dos. It can be played under XP, with some minor configuration.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/galaxy
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Gamevision Desmonstraion Cartridge
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Gametype: Demo
Release Year: 1979
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: None
Players: 1
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Welcome to the world of Gamevision, a new line of games from Milton Bradley for the TI-99/4. Do you have what it takes to beat the computer in challenging video game versions of Hangman, Connect Four, and Yahtzee? Or how about Zero Zap, a new computer pinball game? Enter the 70's, the age of electronic entertainment!

Trivia:

The Gamevision Demonstration cartridge was never meant to be sold to the public, but instead was made to showcase the Gamevision line of games that Milton Bradley was bringing out for the TI-99/4. Someone who visited a store with this cartridge plugged in could either watch a demo that goes through all the games or play any of the titles on the cartridge (Connect Four, Yahtzee, Hangman, Zero Zap). As with all demos, the idea of this cartridge was to sell a product. In this case that would be the Gamevision titles were were available separately.

The label on this cartridge is unique in that the lettering is actually printed on a clear label that was then stuck on top of a plain white label. If you look at the cartridge images, you will be able to see that the clear label is peeling off of the white one. This differs from the other Gamevision releases in that they had a single solid blue label. The only other time this clear label scheme was used was on 3rd party Milton Bradley runs of I'm Hiding, which have clear labels placed on top of beige labels.
 
The TI-99/4A Videogame House purchased this cartridge from Jeff Eyster in November 1998 on the rec.games.video.classic newsgroup. This is the only known copy of the cartridge in existence, as most of the others were probably tossed in the garbage by stores when the Gamevision titles were discontinued. There are most likely others still lurking around, but probably not many were made and the few that were made only found their ways into homes by people who either stole the cartridge from the store or got it for a discount when the titles were no longer new.

According to Tony Cote who worked at Milton Bradley back in the late 70's, the company was developing their own video game system which would become the TI-99/4 (and manufactured by Texas Instruments). The details on this are kind of sketchy, but according to Tony "the MB1 was the TI-99/4. We were going to design a system that would put 16 bit processing against the current 8 bitter's of the day. I don't remember exact dates (late 70's). We had full assistance from TI on supplying all the chips, the 9900 processor. We actually created the 9918 graphics chip in house and TI manufactured the die for us. TI decided that most of all the hardware was theirs, they decided to take over the product and refused to supply MB with any hardware or help. There was a legal battle that TI won, so we just put our tail under our legs and made games for the "NEW" TI console. The only thing I personally have is one of the two prototypes (mounted on plywood) that preceded the actual production version of the 99/4. I think I am going to donate this to the computer museum in Boston. This part of computer history is not very well known. It should be known that the TI 99/4 should have been the MB1 (this was just an in house code name. no name was ever mentioned after we lost the rights)." It would not be surprising if the name Gamevision was going to be the final name for the MB1 that Tony Cote was involved with. This comes from the fact that MB already had a handheld video game system called Microvision, and a standalone system named Gamevision would make a lot of sense. Therefore, if you have a boxed Gamevision TI-99/4A cartridge, you very well might be holding a game that was to have been for a separate Gamevision system (too bad it never came to be, since the blue packaging was pretty nice!).

This game was part of the Milton Bradley Gamevision series, which consisted of 7 cartridges (Connect Four, Yahtzee, Hangman, Zero Zap, Card Sharp, Stratego, and the Gamevision Demonstration Cartridge). These 7 cartridges were the launch titles for the TI-99/4 in 1979.
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Golden Voyage, The
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text - Puzzle
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Designer: Scott Adams
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The 12th and final adventure in the main Scott Adams series, and most likely the one with the fewest packaging variations as well! The king is ill, and only YOU can save him. You must retrieve a magic elixir from a far away land, before it is too late.

In this game, you take to the seas and journey through magic lands with temples, magic fountains, and more. Although this is the last of the main series, it still uses the same basic 2-word parser.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/golden-voyage
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Hangman
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Board Game
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1979
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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Try to guess the hidden word, one letter at a time -- if you guess right, nothing happens; if you guess wrong, another piece of the hanged man appears. Too many wrong guesses, and you'll be swinging from the gallows pole!

This version of Hangman was developed by Milton Bradley, originally for their Gamevision line. You can play against the computer, or with a friend. Two different styles of play are available, just to keep things interesting: Regular, which is standard Hangman, or Scramble, in which the letters appear on the screen in the order you guess them, then are unscrambled into the correct word when you win.

In a two-player game, both players can either guess the same word or different words, or they can each enter a word for the other player to solve.

The game also allows a player to create a custom word list, which can be used immediately, or saved to cassette for later use.

Trivia:

This game was part of the Milton Bradley Gamevision series, which consisted of 7 cartridges (Connect Four, Yahtzee, Hangman, Zero Zap, Card Sharp, Stratego, and the Gamevision Demonstration Cartridge ). These 7 cartridges were the launch titles for the TI-99/4 in 1979.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/hangman___
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Hen Pecked
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: LAH Associated
Publisher: Romox
Players: 1
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Territorial tactics faithfully recreate the best of barnyard banter! You as the rooster have a choice: to rule the roost or become totally Hen Pecked. However, be warned: the hens are not just sitting pretty!

Trivia:

This cartridge is a clone of the popular 1982 arcade game Joust by Williams Electronics.

LAH Associated programmed this game under contract with Romox. According to Tim McGuinness who was one of the founders of Romox, LAH was headed by Chuck Humphries and was really just another name for Navarone. Why Navarone used LAH as a developer name for its Romox games is a mystery. The one thing that is certain, however, is that Navarone bought out Romox in late 1983/early 1984 and continued producing titles for the TI and other systems.
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Henhouse
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Funware
Publisher: Funware
Players: 1
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Help Farmer Jones collect the eggs from his henhouse. But be careful! His hens are finicky, and demand the utmost attention and care with their eggs. Also, hungry wolves and poachers roam the countryside, so you might have to rely on your trusty gun to keep them from eating and stealing your livestock!

Trivia:

In 1983 there were as many as 3 companies interested in buying out Funware, those being Activision, Epyx, and Creative Software. As one might be able to tell from the box scan on this page, Funware was eventually sold to Creative Software. However, both Epyx and Activision would later give a go at marketing TI-99/4A games independently near the end of 1983.

According to Michael Brouthers, it only cost Funware $4 US to make each cartridge game!
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Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Disk
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text - Puzzle
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Infocom, Inc.
Publisher: Infocom, Inc.
Players: 1
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You are Arthur Dent, an Englishman with a bad hangover wearing a dressing gown containing a much needed buffered analgesic and some fluff. Your house has just been destroyed, followed shortly thereafter by your planet Earth (mostly harmless). You’ve been rescued by your friend Ford Prefect, who’s not actually an out-of-work actor. He has given you a book (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), a towel, and is now telling you to put a fish in your ear. It must be a Thursday; you’ve never quite gotten the hang of Thursdays.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is written by Douglas Adams and Steven Meretzky and based on Adams’ BBC radio series, television series, and the series of subsequent novelizations. It’s one of the classic Interactive Fiction games produced by Infocom, labeled as Science Fiction and has a Standard Level of Difficulty. Though divergent from the source material, the main characters, locations, and concepts are here. Unlike the book, death can come quickly if Arthur fails to observe his surroundings, collect inventory, talk to people, and consult the Guide. DON’T PANIC!

Original C=64 Grey Box Contents: Megadodo Publications Advertising Booklet for your very own Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy complete with Fluff, Destruct orders for your home and planet, a nice red button with the words DON'T PANIC printed in large yellow letters, a pair of Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses, No Tea, and your very own Microscopic Space Fleet. All this can be yours, for the low, low price of only 59.99 Altairian Dollars.

Trivia:

Extras

This game came with some of the most humorous software trinkets (Infocom called them "feelies") found in a game box. For example, you get a "Microscopic Space Fleet" (a closed ziplock bag with -- apparently -- nothing in it), Peril-sensitive Sunglasses (the lenses are solid black), etc.
Graphics

A version of the game with graphics added can be played at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game.shtml. Unlike the version found at Douglas Adams' website, you can save and load in this one.
Sales

According to DouglasAdams.com, the game sold around 350,000 copies. The site goes on to note that, with the development of graphics games, the human race rapidly abandoned all that it had learned about language resulting in Infocom's closing.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy
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Honey Hunt
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Tim Scully
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Spring is here and Daisy the bee needs your help in gathering nectar for the hive. However, pesky animals and insects are out to ruin her day! Be careful as spiders have been seen spinning their webs lately, and the bears are hungry for something sweet after their long winter nap!

Trivia:

This game was originally developed for Milton Bradley's own video game system, as was the case with the majority of the MBX games, before the decision was made to instead create a gaming add-on for the TI-99/4A. According to programmer Tim Scully, "I did find some notes which indicate that I started work on the 6809 project in about April 1982. There was a software package from MB called VESDEV which was used with a "silver box" prototype for development...I looked in one file box from that period and saw that [another] Milton Bradley project involved porting from 6809 to TI-99/4A, and that we had been asked to try to squeeze our code into 8k when the game had been in 16k on the 6809. I think we finally were given more memory to work with." The 6809 project he started in April 1982 was Honey Hunt for the MB gaming console which he later ported to the 99/4A after the console was scrapped.

Joyce Hakansson who's company developed Soundtrack Trolley, I'm Hiding, Green Muck, and Mail Drop in addition to Honey Hunt had this to say on the development of her company's MB games, "My involvement with Milton Bradley started when I worked as a consultant for Sesame Street. I started a computer production group for Sesame Street. We actually brought the first computers to the workshop in 1979 - a lifetime ago. My group designed more than 56 activities for the playpark, Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. I was a consultant because I lived here in the Bay Area of California with my family and we were not ready to move to N.Y., and frankly I don't think anyone thought that software production would be a long term part of the organization. I was brought on to get Sesame Place up and running without a commitment beyond that. So I commuted between SF and NY. When the computer facility at Sesame Place was a success I was asked to stay, which I did for a second year and then I had to return home. The workshop agreed that I could start a production group here that would be under the control of Sesame Street. Milton Bradley was the first client for my group. When I became independent 6 months later I changed our name and MB contracted with me for the TI products. We had agreed to produce six titles (I think, I would have to look it up to say for sure) for them. The only one that used speech recognition was I'm Hiding. Originally, MB was going to manufacture their own game player to compete with the original Atari, but changed their mind when Coleco came out with the Colecovision, their game machine. That is when the switch was made to produce for the TI machine with the MB add on. Of course the rest is history."

This game can be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it.
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Hopper
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: John M. Phillips, Mike Archuleta
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Three evil circus trainers are trying to capture Chadly, the Australian Kangaroo. With quick thinking and clever strategy, you can help Chadly escape danger and captivity!

Trivia:

Many people incorrectly think Hopper is a Frogger or Q*Bert clone without ever playing the game (since its name sounds like the title of a Frogger or Q*Bert knock-off), however it's actually a clone of the 1982 Sega arcade Pengo (as mentioned below by John Phillips, the programmer of Hopper).

Here's a story that John Phillips, the famous TI-99/4A programmer, provided on how Hopper came into being:  "While I was working on Moon Mine, my wife was working in the documentation group for TI (she wrote part of the Moon Mine manual). There she met a man by the name of Mike Archuleta, who was a Supervisor in the QA group. We all went to a party together and she introduced me to Mike. Mike was brilliant and really wanted to do some programming. He came up with the idea of doing a game together, since he needed the technical guidance. 

We went out to an arcade and found a coin operated game called, "Pengo." It had a penguin who pushed big ice blocks around the screen. We liked the concept and decided to use it. Instead of a penguin, we chose a Kangaroo. Instead of ice blocks, we chose crates. We did a storyboard on the game and divided up the programming. We also chose the TI Mini Memory cartridge as our intended platform, since there were no quality games that would fit in the 3.5K of RAM it contained. 

We coded for weeks and spent several late, late nights cutting code and optimizing code to get it to fit into the Mini Memory [cartridge]. Eventually, we did. I remember calling my parents at 4:00am because I was so excited that we had finished it. We submitted to TI and they accepted it as a Class A submission. They liked the game so much, though, that they asked us to add more to it because they wanted to produce a standalone cartridge of the game. So, we added title screens, two players, more levels, a surprise level, etc. Hopper was produced and released just before TI announced they were killing the 99/4A and both Mike and I received royalty payments for about a year and a half."

Secret Code Alert! As with the other games John Phillips worked on, there is a  Cheat Mode which can be accessed from the game's title screen. Pressing the "*" button will bring up the option to select which round you would like to begin on (from 0-9). Seems like John decided not to make it too easy for the player to cheat, since usually there is also an option for the number of lives you wish to start with...Therefore, you better be quick with the joystick since your lives are bound to be used up fast on the higher levels!
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Hunt the Wumpus
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Strategy - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1980
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Kevin Kenney
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A mythical creature called a Wumpus is sleeping somewhere in a series of maze-like caves, and your goal is to hunt it down. The cave is dangerous, and in addition to the Wumpus there are bottomless pits and cave bats. Walking into a pit ends the game, encountering a bat will cause you to be relocated to a random location in the cave (which may or may not be safe), and walking into the same room as the Wumpus will cause it to wake up and eat you. To help figure out where these dangers are various cave rooms can provide clues. For example, finding blood splattered in the room means the Wumpus is near, or if you feel a breeze then a pit is near. From these clues you need to deduce the layout of the cave and the location of the Wumpus. If you think you know where the Wumpus is, you have one arrow to fire; a hit wins the game, but a miss means you are eaten by the Wumpus.

Hunt the Wumpus was originally a text based adventure written for mainframes, and this version maintains the same gameplay however graphical enhancements are added. During the game you have a top down view of the cave as you move from room to room with various colors used to indicate the clues. Depending on the difficulty level selected, the map will show you the entire cave that you have visited so far, or only the current room you are standing in. You may also select from several cave difficulty levels (this affects the complexity of the cave layout). When the game ends, you can optionally view the entire cave to see how close (or far) you came to winning.

Trivia:

In 1994, the International Obfuscated C Code Contest gave Don Dodson the "Most Obfuscated Packaging" award for his version of Hunt the Wumpus.

Google included their own version of this game in the releases of their instant messaging client Google Talk up to version 1.0.0.81. In the about screen, you can make out the very light text "play 23 21 13 16 21 19 . 7 1 13 5" against the background. Change the numbers according to their position in the alphabet and it reads "play wumpus.game".

Available only for a short time, you could add "wumpus.game@gmail.com" to your contact list and type "play" to start a game of Wumpus.

The first-ever IRC (Internet Relay Chat) bot was a 1989 script named "GM", written by Greg Lindahl to play Hunt the Wumpus with channel denizens through text input / output.

The original Hunt the Wumpus game (made in 1975 by Californian programmer Gregory Yob) was written in BASIC, and only had 50 lines of code. You can find a link to its source code in the related links section.

Gregory Yob created the original Hunt The Wumpus back in the 1970's before it made it's way to the TI-99/4A. His version of the game was completely text based, telling you when bats were near, which rooms you could go to, etc. 
For the TI-99/4A version, however, Kevin Kenney decided to implement graphics which in my opinion made the game a little more fun (especially being able to see the Wumpus display an evil grin after he devours you!).

This was Kevin Kenny's first title for the TI-99/4A. His other game, Tunnels of Doom, was released a year after Hunt The Wumpus and went on to become one of the most popular TI cartridges.   

Hunt The Wumpus, A-Maze-Ing, and Blasto were all initially going to be bundled on one cartridge. However, programmer Kevin Kenney took these games and added a bunch of extra features to them, turning them into viable stand alone cartridge products. In the end this was a great move by Kevin since all of them went on to become top sellers on the 99/4A system, bringing in more money than what TI would have gotten with an all-in-one watered down combo cartridge.

Play the Java based TI-99/4A version of Hunt The Wumpus on-line! It's a great remake with updated graphics and sound as well as a good way to try and slay that Wumpus right on your own PC.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/hunt-the-wumpus
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Hustle
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Karl Schmitz, Bob Harris
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Try to out-slither your opponent by devouring as many points as possible. Whoever ends up with the most points at the end of a round wins. But watch out, the more you eat the bigger you get...and the harder it is to maneuver!

Trivia:

This game is a port of the 1977 Sega/Gremlin Arcade game Hustle, making it one of the earliest Sega arcades brought to the home. Unlike Milton Bradley's Blasto port where they changed the battle vehicles to tanks (in the arcade original they were some type of space vehicles), all the game elements here stay the same compared to the arcade.

This game would be the second programming job done by Robert S. Harris (AKA RoSHa) before going on to create games for the Odyssey2, his most famous title being the well-known Killer Bees! His first programming job was Blasto (Milton Bradley/Sega) also on the TI.

According to Bob Harris this game was first started by Elaine Henshon, but for unknown reasons she sopped working on it. Bob speculates that the reason for this was because Elaine was busy working on 3 other TI-99/4A titles at the time for Milton Bradley, and could not meet the upcoming deadline for the project if she was working on 4 titles all at once. Bob also provided this interesting tidbit on Hustle, "About the only other inside info I can think of is that I had a lot of interesting play variations in Hustle which were removed before it went to market. Mostly higher speed settings and different snake lengths. I used to play the game a lot at lunch with Noah Falstein. One enjoyable version was super high speed with snakes that stayed at length 2 (two squares). You won if you crashed into the other snake's tail. It was basically a dog fight...not evey idea I had was a good one. I also thought it would be a good idea if the playfield was bright fry-your-eyes magenta."
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I'm Hiding
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Joystc Hakansoon Associates
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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A colorful paint box is the hiding place for the Dumbugs - five little insects that scurry behind paint brushes, crayons, and other objects. Is that Ollie behind the pencil, or maybe Ethel's on the other side of the purple jar. See if you can become a successful bug hunter in this game of Hide 'n Seek!

Trivia:

Joyce Hakansson who's company developed Soundtrack Trolley, Honey Hunt, Green Muck, and Mail Drop in addition to I'm Hiding had this to say on the development of her company's MB games, "My involvement with Milton Bradley started when I worked as a consultant for Sesame Street. I started a computer production group for Sesame Street. We actually brought the first computers to the workshop in 1979 - a lifetime ago. My group designed more than 56 activities for the playpark, Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. I was a consultant because I lived here in the Bay Area of California with my family and we were not ready to move to N.Y., and frankly I don't think anyone thought that software production would be a long term part of the organization. I was brought on to get Sesame Place up and running without a commitment beyond that. So I commuted between SF and NY. When the computer facility at Sesame Place was a success I was asked to stay, which I did for a second year and then I had to return home. The workshop agreed that I could start a production group here that would be under the control of Sesame Street. Milton Bradley was the first client for my group. When I became independent 6 months later I changed our name and MB contracted with me for the TI products. We had agreed to produce six titles (I think, I would have to look it up to say for sure) for them. The only one that used speech recognition was I'm Hiding. Originally, MB was going to manufacture their own game player to compete with the original Atari, but changed their mind when Coleco came out with the Colecovision, their game machine. That is when the switch was made to produce for the TI machine with the MB add on. Of course the rest is history."

This game along with Championship Baseball and Terry Turtle's Adventure were offered for sale as 3rd party cartridges from Milton Bradley in addition to being sold through TI (this page is for the version sold through TI). The 3rd party releases came with different labels and cases than the cartridge pictured on this page. The 3 titles MB offered for sale independent of TI were the ones that required an MBX system in order to run, which helps explain why MB would have sold these as a 3rd party since they were responsible for manufacturing the actual MBX system. The 3rd party releases are extremely hard to come by, as only one MB release has been found to date and that being I'm Hiding.

This game was listed in early brochures under the name Bug Hunt, apparently to sound similar to Honey Hunt which was another MBX game developed by Joyce Hakansson Associates.

Fun Bit!  When one of the Dumbugs is finding a place to hide on the screen he or she will say "I'm Hiding" through the MBX's speech synthesizer. Each bug has a different voice when he or she speaks. However, the bug by the name of BeBop does not say "I'm Hiding", but instead says "I'm High" (as in high on drugs). It's a pretty funny thing thrown into the game, how it got past MB executives is a mystery since it's hard to believe they would have knowingly allowed a phrase like that to be in a kids game. Then again, maybe the Milton Bradley guys just liked to have a little fun since almost everyone that worked at the company back then has said it was the best job they ever had in their lives since it was so fun and laid back.

This game MUST be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it. The reason for the MBX requirement is because the game asks the player to choose objects on the screen by pressing the corresponding picture on the MBX keypad. Since the game was designed for little kids to match shapes, sizes, and colors, the game would pretty much lose its purpose without the MBX keypad and overlay.
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I'm Hiding - MBX Version
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Joystc Hakansoon Associates
Publisher: Milton Bradley Co.
Players: 1
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How in the world are you ever going to find those 5 playful Dumbugs which are hiding in secret somewhere in this menagerie of objects? Maybe wobbly Ollie is hiding behind the red crayon, or maybe cool Bebop is lounging behind the purple paintbrush. Guess you better start hunting for them as they might get lonely if you don't find them soon!

Trivia:

Joyce Hakansson who's company developed Soundtrack Trolley, Honey Hunt, Green Muck, and Mail Drop in addition to I'm Hiding had this to say on the development of her company's MB games, "My involvement with Milton Bradley started when I worked as a consultant for Sesame Street. I started a computer production group for Sesame Street. We actually brought the first computers to the workshop in 1979 - a lifetime ago. My group designed more than 56 activities for the playpark, Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. I was a consultant because I lived here in the Bay Area of California with my family and we were not ready to move to N.Y., and frankly I don't think anyone thought that software production would be a long term part of the organization. I was brought on to get Sesame Place up and running without a commitment beyond that. So I commuted between SF and NY. When the computer facility at Sesame Place was a success I was asked to stay, which I did for a second year and then I had to return home. The workshop agreed that I could start a production group here that would be under the control of Sesame Street. Milton Bradley was the first client for my group. When I became independent 6 months later I changed our name and MB contracted with me for the TI products. We had agreed to produce six titles (I think, I would have to look it up to say for sure) for them. The only one that used speech recognition was I'm Hiding. Originally, MB was going to manufacture their own game player to compete with the original Atari, but changed their mind when Coleco came out with the Colecovision, their game machine. That is when the switch was made to produce for the TI machine with the MB add on. Of course the rest is history."

This game along with Championship Baseball and Terry Turtle's Adventure were offered for sale as 3rd party cartridges from Milton Bradley in addition to being sold through TI (this page is for the version sold through TI). The 3rd party releases came with different labels and cases than the cartridge pictured on this page. The 3 titles MB offered for sale independent of TI were the ones that required an MBX system in order to run, which helps explain why MB would have sold these as a 3rd party since they were responsible for manufacturing the actual MBX system. The 3rd party releases are extremely hard to come by, as only one MB release has been found to date and that being I'm Hiding.

This game was listed in early brochures under the name Bug Hunt, apparently to sound similar to Honey Hunt which was another MBX game developed by Joyce Hakansson Associates.

Fun Bit!  When one of the Dumbugs is finding a place to hide on the screen he or she will say "I'm Hiding" through the MBX's speech synthesizer. Each bug has a different voice when he or she speaks. However, the bug by the name of BeBop does not say "I'm Hiding", but instead says "I'm High" (as in high on drugs). It's a pretty funny thing thrown into the game, how it got past MB executives is a mystery since it's hard to believe they would have knowingly allowed a phrase like that to be in a kids game. Then again, maybe the Milton Bradley guys just liked to have a little fun since almost everyone that worked at the company back then has said it was the best job they ever had in their lives since it was so fun and laid back.

This game MUST be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it. The reason for the MBX requirement is because the game asks the player to choose objects on the screen by pressing the corresponding picture on the MBX keypad. Since the game was designed for little kids to match shapes, sizes, and colors, the game would pretty much lose its purpose without the MBX keypad and overlay.
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Indoor Soccer
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Sports - Soccer
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1980
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 2 VS
Programmer: Roger Tilbury
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You zig zag your way towards the opposing teams goal all the while keeping a keen eye on the soccer ball. Then you deliver a powerful kick and the ball rockets forward towards a quivering goal keeper. The goal keeper lunges towards the ball, but then...Swish! It hits the back of the netting! The crowd cheers...you've just scored the game winning goal!

Trivia:

Indoor Soccer was designed in Bedford (United Kingdom) by Roger Tilbury. According to Roger, "I wrote a demo of the concept to get approval to develop it, and when it was accepted it was programmed in GPL by the guys in France. I was working at TI in Bedford at the time but we didn't have a
development lab there, only in Nice and Lubbock TX. I also designed the Video Games 1 module in Bedford." In addition to designing the above titles, he also worked on a Windsurfing game which ultimately was rejected by TI.

This game has to be played with 2 players as there is no option to go against the computer.
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Jawbreaker II
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Maze
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Sierra On-Line
Publisher: Sierra On-Line
Players: 1
Programmer: Dan Drew
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You're loose in a candy factory. Quickly gobble up all the candy bars, but be careful...the happy faces may get you! Clear the screen and its time for some quick hygiene - a tooth brush will clean your teeth to get you ready for your next romp!
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Jungle Hunt
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Arcade - Platformer - Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Atarisoft
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1
Licensed from: Taito
Programmer: Jim Drams, Paul Urbanus, Garth Dollahite
_________________________
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Jungle Hunt offers four unique adventure experiences, which repeat with greater difficulty once all four have been survived. If you don't survive these adventures, you will not only lose your own life but that of the lovely Penelope, who has been captured by cannibals!

The first part challenges your Tarzan skills - can you swing on the vines without plummeting to your doom? The second part pits you against a whole bunch of nasty crocodiles in a mighty river. Fortunately, you have a knife to fight back with. Don't forget to go up for air! In the third part, you face a battle against oncoming boulders of varying sizes and physics. Once you've cleared all these treacherous hazards, you still must confront the dreaded cannibal, who is armed with a wicked spear. Can you get past him and save the lovely Penelope?

Gameplay involves much strategic jumping and knife play (in the river/crocodile phase). The view is always a side view, much like Pitfall! and later platform games.

Trivia:

The original coin-op version of Jungle Hunt was a hastily-revised expurgation of Jungle King, removing all distinctive properties of Tarzan (the yell, the garb, swinging on vines -- changed to ropes) following the threat of legal action from the estate of Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/jungle-hunt
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Jungle Quest
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Educational
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Parachute Press
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Players: 1
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You are code-named Orion, an adolescent agent of ACT (the Adventure Connection Team), summoned straight out of the hallways of your high school by Max Huntington to participate in a mission taking you to the darkest jungles of Africa, to locate and defuse the limitless energies stored in an alien artifact there before sinister competing agents of BRUTE (the Bureau of Random Unlawful Terror and Evil) beat you to it!

Other members of your team include an archaeologist ("Digger"), an environmental scientist ("Erda"), a nuclear engineer ("Celeste") and Olano, your guide. You, of course, are the computer expert, and your skills will be put to the test, typing in included BASIC programs to decrypt secret messages, weigh tolerances, plot courses through labyrinths and calculate necessary angles of deflection. The abilities of the whole team will be called for to overcome natural obstacles, untrusting natives, the sapping effects of the Devorim Force, BRUTE agents, a traitor in your midst, the perils and traps of the golden lost city containing the artifact, and the deadly artifact itself!

Though the story shares the dynamic 2nd-person perspective ("You try to talk, but you cannot make a sound") of Choose-Your-Own-Adventures, the text (like most books) is a non-interactive fixed-rail trip of zero interactivity -- however, some of the type-in programs included offer numerous outcomes, moving into the "game" field what might otherwise be best categorized as an elaborate set-up for low-impact programming exercises.

An appendix is included describing how to modify the BASIC program listings for greatest compatibility with 10 of the most popular home microcomputer BASICs, as well as describing what each program does and how it works. Hey! You got your education in my adventure!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/jungle-quest
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Junkman Junior
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Platform - Puzzle
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1986
Developer: DataBiotics
Publisher: DataBiotics
Players: 1
_________________________
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Junkman Junior is a clone of the game Jumpman Junior. Your goal is to collect all of the junk on the screen so you can earn points and move on to the next level. There are various platforms, ladders, and ropes you will need to climb and jump your way around to reach the various items. From time to time, a bullet will fire at you from off of the screen; be sure to dodge this, otherwise one of your lives will be lost! Although this is primarily an action game, there is a strategy element to it as well, as you may need to figure out an optimal route to reach all of the items. When an item is collected, often there is a consequence on the screen, such as floors disappearing or deadly fires appearing; if you aren't careful, you could find yourself in a difficult situation! Each level has a different theme, and may also feature additional challenges such as moving ladders and falling firestones. There are eleven levels in total to complete.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/junkman-junior
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Lasso
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action
Gametype: Prototype
Release Year: 1984
Developer: SNK Electronics
Publisher: None
Players: 1
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Oh no, the cattle have busted out of their pen! It's up to you to round up all your livestock and get them back to safety. But be on the lookout for coyotes and fire breathing prairie dogs which are out to make a meal out of both you and your cattle!
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M-A-S-H
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Action - Top Down
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Fox Video Games, Inc.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1 or 2 VS
Programmer: Paul Munsey, Flora NG
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M*A*S*H was one of the many attempts by various software companies to take a successful movie or television show and convert it into a playable game.

In this game, you play the role of "Hawkeye Pierce," a surgeon stationed at the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital #4077 during the Korean War (1950-1953). There are two main stages in the game, each of which you must pass to move to the next round. The first mission involves rescuing injured soldiers from the battlefield with your helicopter and returning them to home base without being shot down by enemy tanks. The second mission takes place in the operating room while you are required to carefully remove bullets and shrapnel from wounded soldiers... it is very similar to the classic "OPERATION" tweezers game by Milton Bradley.

Each set of missions are repeated four times. The first player to reach 999 points wins the game. There are four different variations of games, each selectable as either one player (against the computer) or two-player mode.

Trivia:

Paul Munsey programmed the helicopter portion of the game while Flora Ng did the operating scene. 

Ever wonder why the TI-99/4A version of M*A*S*H had a white background when the show itself rarely, if ever, had snow? Well, according to Paul Munsey, "A bug in the graphics wouldn't consistently draw all the pixels of the helicopter on any background color but white. Somehow the motion triggered some problem and our only known solution was to use a white background."  

20th Century Fox held a competition to see who could design the best sequel to M*A*S*H. By mailing in a description of your idea for M*A*S*H II, you could win a prize depending on how the top guns at 20th Century Fox viewed your idea. The Grand prize winner (awarded to the person that sent in the best game design) would get their name printed on every copy of the cartridge sold (supposedly on the back of the box) and also $25,000 in cash. 4 First Prize winners would receive AMC Jeeps, 400 Second Prize winners a TI-99/4A system, and 4000 Third Prize winners free games from 20th Century Fox. In April 2000 there was a post to rec.games.video.classic from someone who sent in a game design and won Second Place in the competition, click here to read that story.   

The Atari 2600 version of the game came packaged with a free M*A*S*H T-Shirt  

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/mash
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MeteorBelt
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Milton Bradley
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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Are you ready to do battle in an epic space duel? A space outpost at the outer fringes of the meteor belt have declared war on you and your people. Destroy the enemy outpost and their fleet of ships before they destroy you!

Trivia:

This game can be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it.
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Microsurgeon
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Action - Strategy
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Imagic
Players: 1
Programmer: Rick Levine
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You're a microsurgeon, and your patient is in critical condition! First you need to examine the patient's medical chart to find out what's wrong, and which conditions are the most critical. Now to save the patient, you control a robot probe which can be used to administer aspirin, antiseptic, or ultrasonics to clear up the problem. You should clear up the most critical conditions first, then move on to the less serious areas to ensure your patient survives. Your probe should navigate through the veins, arteries, and lymph; if you guide the probe outside these areas, it's movement will slow down and swarms of white blood cells will attack it, depleting the limited energy supply. There are 197 different patients you need to help, each with different ailments.

Trivia:

This game is a port of the original Intellivision version from 1982. Both the TI-99/4A and Intellivision versions were programmed by Rick Levine. 

There is one known Easter Egg in this game, if you listen to the voice that comes across during gameplay it sometimes will say "Paging Doctor Levine". Doctor Levine being Rick Levine, the programmer of the game. 

Programmer Rick Levine had the following to say about Microsurgeon: "As you noted, the audio and the hospital room graphic were the main additions from the Intellivision version. As in the Intellivision version, there is a tiny graphic in the game that spells out "Rick". That's about it. I remember enjoying programming for the TI....Adding the speech was lots of fun, and I would have liked programming more games on the TI, but that didn't work out."
 

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/microsurgeon
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Mind Challengers
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Educational - Puzzle - Strategy
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Kevin Kenney
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Two exciting and colorful games to challenge your powers of memory and logic. Test the limits of your musical memory with Memory Match, or try to solve the mystery of the baffling Mind Grid!

Trivia:

This cartridge was released in Europe as Video Games 2. The title for the U.S. release was also supposed to be Video Games 2, but the name was changed to make it sound more appealing to consumers. Interestingly, the second screen of Mind Challengers still refers to the game as it's original title, as can be seen in the second screen shot on this page.
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Miner 2049er
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Platform - Puzzle
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Big Five Software
Publisher: Tigervision
Players: 1
Designer: Bill Hogue
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You play the part of Bounty Bob, and it is your mission to explore every inch of an abandoned mine. As you walk over floor sections in the mine, the floor will change color. When all of the floor sections have been changed in color, you can move on to the next, more challenging level. To reach all of the floor sections, you will need to figure out how to get there.

You can jump (be careful not to fall too far though, or you will be squished), climb up and down ladders, and use different transportation devices that can be found on the levels (such as an elevator, slides, a springboard, or a cannon!) Wandering around the mine are numerous radioactive creatures which get in Bounty Bob's way. Also scattered throughout the mines are various artifacts left behind; if Bounty Bob collects one of these, the creatures will temporarily become vulnerable. If Bounty Bob runs into one of the creatures in this state the creature will be destroyed, but if he runs into a creature while it is glowing Bounty Bob will be destroyed.

There is a total of ten different levels, and to complete them all you will need quick reflexes as well as to figure out a unique strategy for each level.

Trivia:

Miner 2049er was ported to a wide-range of platforms thanks to an early, innovative use of licensing. Big Five produced the original game, and licensed it to other companies to port to other platforms. Prior to this, most games were ported by the same company that developed them.

Miner 2049er was created by Big Five Software in 1982 and ported to a large array of systems (through different manufacturers). The game made its way to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 400/800, Colecovision, Commodore 64, VIC-20, and Gameboy just to name a few. The goal was to put Miner 2049er on every system that could reproduce it faithfully, which is the reason there are so many ports of this title to numerous systems. To read more about the history of Miner 2049er check out The Miner 2049er Information Page.

Miner 2049er won a number of awards back in the 80's for its addictive game play and unique concept. Three of the awards it won were the "1984 Electronic Game of the Year" (Electronic Games Magazine), "1984 Outstanding Software Award" (Creative Computing), and "1983 Best Seller Award" (Softsel).  Pictures of these awards and more can be found at the official site of Big Five Software.

The TI-99/4A version of Miner 2049er only contains 8 of the 10 original screens. Most other ports included all 10 and the Colecovision version even added an extra level to bring its total to 11. The reason for the exclusion of 2 levels (Stations 1 and 8) probably had to do with memory constraints more than anything else.

The first thing you might notice about the TI-99/4A version of Miner 2049er is its weird cartridge shape. This is due to the fact that it plugs into the system's expansion port (where the Speech Synthesizer plugs into) instead of the normal cartridge port. Most likely Tigervision did this because TI would not license out its GROM chips to many 3rd party developers. The GROM chip allowed for greater amounts of memory to be put onto a single cartridge, and without the chip you were limited to 8K of ROM. Therefore, in order to fit Miner 2049er onto a cartridge Tigervision made it plug into the expansion port, which allowed for more memory than standard cartridges.

There is a small square hole on the side of the Miner 2049er cartridge where a start button could go. However, Tigervision only put start buttons on their Espial cartridges which were released later in 1984 (after Miner 2049er). Interestingly, the Espial manual tells the player to push the red button on the cartridge in order to start the game (and not to go through the cartridge selection screen). This leads one to believe that the start button was a way around TI's Version 2.2 consoles which blocked 3rd party cartridges from appearing on the selection screen. By using a button to start (and also reset) the game it completely bypassed any GROM check that the system might have had. Pretty ingenious idea!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/miner-2049er
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Moon Mine
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Shooter - Sci-Fi
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: John M. Phillips
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You are captain of the U.S.S. Recovery and your mission is to capture treasures stolen from Earth. Battle against the mighty Zygonaut and his menacing creatures to save the world's most valuable treasures!
 
Trivia:

This would be the first original title John Phillips would program for TI. He provided this interesting story on the development of the game, "Moonmine was assigned to me upon my arrival in Lubbock. I worked for a Supervisor, Bob Hendren, who had done a rough design and storyboard. I already knew how to program in assembly language, but did not know the proprietary language named "GPL" (Graphics Programming Language) that TI used in their GROM chips. I learned that from Jim Dramis (Car Wars, Munchman, Parsec). I worked on Moonmine for several months. Bob Hendren and I had a falling out towards the end of the project. He wanted the same girl who did the Parsec speech (her name was Aubree) to do the Moonmine speech. I wanted someone else to do it. We ended up getting Aubree to record part of the speech and another TI Lubbock employee to record the voice of the Zygonaut. Bob and my relationship was never the same after that." 

Easter Egg Alert! One of the moon creatures has the initials "JMP" on it, which stands for the programmer of the game John M. Phillips. 

Secret Code Alert! As with the other games John Phillips worked on, the Cheat Mode can be accessed by pressing the buttons "* # *" (in that sequence) on the cartridge's title screen. This mode allows you to choose the starting level and number of miners you wish to begin with. Playing the game at the highest level provides quite a challenge!
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Moon Patrol
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Arcade - Side-Scrolling - Vertical
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Irem Corp.
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1
Licensed from: Irem
Programmer: Douglas Brian Craig
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The moon is under attack from a horde of aliens, and you must stop them in your armed buggy. Drive along the surface shooting the aliens and avoiding their bullets. The surface is not flat, there are craters and rocks to avoid contact with, and landmines on the surface. Flying saucers create new craters when they crash. The 25 restart points are letter-coded.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/moon-patrol
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Moonsweeper
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Shoot 'em Up - Action - Static
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Manolito Adan
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In Moonsweeper your goal is to rescue miners from the moons in Star Quadrant Jupiter. You begin your mission in space where you must avoid deadly aurora flares, photon torches and space bullets from the sun in this quadrant. From time to time you will see a moon pass by, and by flying near it you can descend to the surface. As you sweep along the surface, you will see stranded miners which need to be rescued by flying over them. Also on the moons surface are various obstacles which must be avoided or destroyed, such as towers and lunar satellites as well as alien surface destroyers. Should you survive and rescue six miners (the maximum your ship can carry), then you may take off from the surface by using the accelerator rings. There are several different types of moons found in this quadrant, each with a different level of difficulty. To help out, your ship is equipped with photon torpedoes and shields (though you will lose points while using the shield).


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/moonsweeper
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Ms. Pac-Man
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Arcade - Maze
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: General Computer Corporation, Midway
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
Licensed from: Namco
Programmer: Howard E. Scheer
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In 1982, a sequel to the incredibly popular Pac-Man was introduced in the form of his girlfriend, Ms. Pac-Man. This sequel continued on the "eat the dots/avoid the ghosts" gameplay of the original game, but added new features to keep the title fresh.

Like her boyfriend, Ms. Pac-Man attempts to clear four various and challenging mazes filled with dots and ever-moving bouncing fruit while avoiding Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Sue, each with their own personalities and tactics. One touch from any of these ghosts means a loss of life for Ms. Pac-Man.

Ms. Pac-Man can turn the tables on her pursuers by eating one of the four Energizers located within the maze. During this time, the ghosts turn blue, and Ms. Pac-Man can eat them for bonus points (ranging from 200, 400, 800 and 1600, progressively). The Energizer power only lasts for a limited amount of time, as the ghost's eyes float back to their center box, and regenerate to chase after Ms. Pac-Man again.

Survive a few rounds of gameplay, and the player will be treated to humorous intermissions showing the growing romantic relationship between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, leading all the way up to the arrival of "Junior".


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/ms-pac-man
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MunchMan
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Action - Maze
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Jim Dramis
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MunchMan is an arcade action game similar to Pac-Man. You control MunchMan who is in a maze; your goal is to lay down a chain throughout each path of the maze (the opposite of Pac-Man where you need to eat all of the dots). Also in the maze are four "Hoonos"; these creatures will be constantly chasing MunchMan, and if he's caught a life is lost. When all of MunchMans lives are lost, the game is over. To help out, each corner of the maze has a Texas Instruments (TI) logo; eat the TI logo and MunchMan will now temporarily be able to eat the Hoonos for bonus points! When the maze is complete, you move on to the next, more difficult level.

Trivia:

Like Parsec, Munchman is one of those classic TI-99/4A video games. Sure, it may be a Pac-Man clone but there is no doubt this cartridge was one of the top sellers on the TI-99/4A system back in the early 80s.  

You might ask why they call the game "Munchman" when nothing is being "munched" in the game (as Munchman himself is not eating anything, but rather laying down chains). This is a common question that many people have after playing it, and the answer lies in the prototype version of the game (which carries a 1981 copyright on the title screen, versus the 1982 date on the released version). In the prototype, Munchman actually gobbles dots and power-pills in order to pass each level just as in Pac-Man. However, TI thought it would be too risky to market the game that way as it was a clear rip off of the arcade original. So to avoid any lawsuits they took out the dots and had Munchman lay down a series of chains, where the player had to cover the entire maze instead of eating dots. Also, the power-pills were changed to TI logos but still served the same purpose. One other note is that the maze was altered for the final version of the game (in my opinion the maze that came out in the released Munchman cartridge is easier than the prototype one) and the title screen was changed. After all these changes, the name Munchman was retained even though the "munch" had been taken out from most of the game play. 

Fun Bit!  If you think you are the biggest fan of Munchman you might want to check with Lauren Urban. Back in 1983 she had an actual Munchman Birthday Cake made for her sixth birthday! The image of the cake comes from the August 1983 issue of 99er Magazine (page 68). Wonder where Lauren is today? She would be over 30 years old now!

Secret Code Alert!  If you press the buttons "* # *" (in that sequence) on the title screen, it will take you to a cheat mode where you can choose the Round, Screen, and Number of Munchmen that you want to start with. It's fun to see what the later levels look like if you are not talented enough with the joystick to get there, since Munchman really does "munch" things towards the end of the game! There is a catch however, the score that you rack up while in this special mode is recorded as a "Test Score"  instead of "Your Score" as in a normal game. Therefore, cheating does indeed have its limitations!

Well, Howard Kistler (Dream Codex) is at it again! After programming a superb update of Hunt The Wumpus (the updated game can be played by clicking on the link in Wumpus' Trivia section), now comes his update of Munch Man, called MunchMates! The game can be played right on your own PC for free. It's well worth a play and Howard should be commended for his great TI-99/4A video game updates!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/munchman
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Munchmobile
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Racing - Arcade - Cars
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: SNK Electronics
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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Drive your Munchmobile down dangerous roads while trying to grab and munch the snacks scattered along the way. Be careful - one wrong move and you lose a Munchmobile! 

Trivia:

This game is a port of the 1983 SNK arcade Munchmobile, which was known in Japan as Joyful Road. It appears that Centuri distributed this game in the U.S. for SNK, and changed its name from Joyful Road (as it was known in Japan) to Munchmobile. 

Secret Code Alert! A Cheat Mode can be accessed by pressing " * " on the cartridge's title screen. This mode allows you to choose if you want to start on Round 1 or 4. There's not much of an advantage to using the Cheat Mode since you still don't have infinite lives, but if you want to get to Round 4 then this little cheat can help you get there faster.
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Mystery Fun House
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Taoe
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Designer: Scott Adams
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Number 7 in the original Scott Adams adventure series. This one takes place at an amusement park. The first puzzle is how to get in past the turnstyles! Once inside, you must solve the mystery of the place, going through a house of mirrors and so forth. It is an all-text adventure like the others in this series, with a very basic 2-word parser.

Trivia:

The owner of a real-life amusement park called Mystery Fun House (it used to be in Orlando, Florida) was not at all pleased with Scott using that name for one of his adventures. This one was never changed, though. You can learn about the original amusement park in this tribute page in Facebook.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/mystery-fun-house
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Number Magic
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Educational
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1979
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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Number Magic is an educational game designed to teach young children arithmetic. It is based around a stage magic theme, and includes many images of rabbits and top hats.

Three modes are available. Quick Quiz displays randomly-generated arithmetic questions and the player is scored by correct answers. Comp Quiz allows the user to customize several quiz options, such as enable time limits, choose whether to complete answers or missing numbers, and select custom or randomly-generated questions. Electroflash is similar to Comp Quiz but all of the questions include a specific number and arithmetic operation, chosen by the user.

After each quiz, the player can choose to repeat the same quiz, generate a new quiz with the same options, select a new quiz type, or quit.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/number-magic
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Othello
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Board Game
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: CBS Electronics
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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Your opponent has just outflanked you and captured your discs - you're surrounded. Can you outwit your adversary in this intriguing game of strategy, skills, and concentration?

Trivia:

This game is based upon Gabriel Industries' own electronic handheld version of the Othello board game, known as  Computer Othello. The handheld version was released in 1980 and was programmed by Rob Phillips at the University of Maryland who contracted the program out to Gabriel. 

Later in 1982 and 1983 CBS would go on to convert popular arcade games to the Atari 2600 and 5200. They also planned Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari 400/800 and TI-99/4A conversions as well, but the video game crash of 1984 put an end to those titles seeing the light of day.
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Pac-Man
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Maze
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Namco Limited
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
Licensed from: Namco
Programmer: Howard E. Scheer
_________________________
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One of the most popular and influential games of the 1980's, Pac-Man stars a little, yellow dot-muncher who works his way around to clear a maze of the various dots and fruit which inhabit the board.

Pac-Man's goal is continually challenged by four ghosts: The shy blue ghost Bashful (Inky), the trailing red ghost Shadow (Blinky), the fast pink ghost Speedy (Pinky), and the forgetful orange ghost Pokey (Clyde). One touch from any of these ghosts means a loss of life for Pac-Man.

Pac-Man can turn the tables on his pursuers by eating of the four Energizers located within the maze. During this time, the ghosts turn blue, and Pac-Man can eat them for bonus points. This only lasts for a limited amount of time, as the ghost's eyes float back to their center box, and regenerate to chase after Pac-Man again.

Survive a few rounds of gameplay, and be treated to humorous intermissions between Pac-Man and the ghosts.

Trivia:

Easter Egg Alert!  Howard E. Scheer sat down with the TI-99/4A Videogame House and provided some insight on the development of Pac-Man for the TI system. In that interview, he talked about a very rare Easter Egg...rare in that only early production runs of the cartridge had the code still intact.

"I put an Easter Egg in Pac-Man, also. However, there were two versions of the game (there was a mid-production bug fix or something); the first version had it, the second one didn't (I took it out to make room for the change I had to make). 

This one was more complex (I didn't want anyone stumbling upon it). You had to do something like this (let me see if I remember how to get it to work): 

(1) Set the high score to 110. 
(2) Start a new two-player game. 
(3) With player #1, let a ghost catch you while you still have zero points. 
(4) With Player #2, go straight right until you hit a wall, and then stay there (you should have 160 points I think). 
(5) When a ghost catches you, press and hold the "H" key (or maybe all three: HES). 
(You MAY need to be on your 3rd man to do this.) 

I'm not sure if this is right. Even if it is, if you have the 2nd version of the cartridge it won't work. 

Let me know if you try it and if it works. "

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/pac-man
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Parsec
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Shooter - Vertical
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Jim Dramis, Paul Urbanus
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Parsec is a side-scrolling space shooter. Waves of alien craft swoop down from the top and the player must shoot them down without colliding with them or the ground, running out of fuel, or overheating the ship's laser. Some enemies are harder to destroy and shoot back. At the end of each level, the player must navigate through an asteroid field which can yield many points, but can also result in a loss of ships in the process due to collisions.

The game takes advantage of the TI's speech synthesizer: a female voice occasionally makes comments such as "Nice shooting, pilot!", or "Asteroid field ahead" throughout the course of the game.

Trivia:

Matthew Doucette, a crazed Parsec fan, has his own page dedicated to the game called Rare Parsec Facts (The TI-99/4A Video Game). It's an incredible piece of work and definitely worth a visit if you are a fan of this great classic!

This is the most popular TI-99/4A cartridge out there, and definitely a "must play" for anyone that has a TI-99/4A console or emulator. Parsec can be found in almost everybody's collection and deservedly so, as many claim it to be their favorite TI video game. In fact, many people associate the TI-99/4A with Parsec because it's they game they can remember the most from their childhood!  

This was the first game to use bit map graphics on the TI-99/4A, which is one of the reasons for the big leap in graphics quality over many earlier games.

There are two different cartridge labels for Parsec, the earlier Purple label and the later Red label. Originally, TI was going to use Purple labels on video games and then ended up going with the Red label scheme for reasons unknown.  Only 3 titles are known to exist in both Red and Purple label variations: Parsec, Alpiner, and Othello (all of which were among the first titles to be released with colored labels).

Secret Alert! After the game says "Press Fire to Begin", crash one of your ships into the ground instead of firing. This will cause the first wave of enemies to appear and if you can blast through them without losing any lives there is a random chance of being warped to a further stage in the game. Note that the Warp Cheat does not work every time, so it may take a few tries before you manage to actually warp. This cheat was discussed over on rec.games.video.classic in a great story about someone's addiction to Parsec (in addition, the follow ups to the original thread also contain some neat stories!).
  
Secret Alert! Here's a little secret sent in to the Videogame House by Tim Flavin. If you hold down the fire buttons on both joysticks simultaneously your ship will never overheat. However, this can prove to be a little tricky if playing by yourself! Your best bet is to play Parsec with a friend where both you and your friend hold down the fire buttons on the joysticks.

Easter Egg Alert! On the scrolling ground of Parsec the initials JED and URB can be seen (see the second screen shot on this page). JED stands for programmer James E. Dramis, while URB is the nickname of Paul Urbanus who helped Jim Dramis program the game as a college intern at TI. 

Easter Egg Alert! The Urbite and Dramite enemy ships that you battle against in the game are named after the programmers Paul Urbanus and Jim Dramis. The Bynite ships, on the other hand, get their name from Don Bynum who was head of 99/4A development.  

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/parsec
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Picnic Paranoia
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Atarisoft
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1
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The player is guarding four full picnic tables while armed only with a fly-swatter and an occasional can of bug spray. Ants soon crawl on-screen and, in character, attempt to carry the food away. Spiders that lay delaying webs show up on round two, and can sting player, paralyzing him, if he isn't careful. A flying wasp, which also stings, appears at random. Points are awarded for swatting any of these marauders. Each round lasts a minute and a half and, at the end of each round, bonus points are awarded for any remaining food. As soon as all food is pushed off of the screen, or a round ends with no food still on any of the tables, the game ends.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/picnic-paranoia
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Pirate Adventure
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape, Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Designer: Scott Adams
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This is adventure #2 in Scott Adam's text adventure series. In this adventure, you shuffle between three locales: an unremarkable (at first) London flat and two islands littered with dangerous critters and people. The goal of the game is to find the two pirate treasures on the treasure island. You move about and use objects by typing one or two word commands such as NORTH, INVENTORY, or GET SNEAKERS. You only have to type the first 3 letters of a command or object for the parser to recognize it.

Trivia:

Scott Adams published the BASIC source code to Pirate Adventure in the December 1980 issue of BYTE Magazine (pp. 192-212); the code sets up the virtual machine for the adventure and then largely consists of DATA-statements, thousands of numbers plugging values into the virtual machine. With this (somewhat obtuse) reference, many text adventure fans among BYTE's subscription base reverse-engineered the virtual machine and used it to help get a leg up advancing their own homebrew text adventures.

Scans of the pages in question can be viewed online at http://www.biggusgeekus.org/if/byte1280.html


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/pirate-adventure
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Pole Position
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Racing - Arcade
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Namco Limited
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1
Licensed from: Namco
Programmer: Jim Dramis, Paul Urbanus, Garth Dollahite
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Pole Position is the conversion of the arcade racing game. Enter the Grand Prix, race against other racing cars to achieve the highest score possible in the shortest amount of time.

Before the player can enter the Grand Prix, the player must first qualify by competing in the Qualifying Lap within 73 seconds or less. If the player however, does not qualify in the Qualifying Lap, the player may continue to race until the Race Timer runs after 90 seconds. The player will score 50 point per 5 meters and additionally 50 points for every racing car passed. When the time runs out - Game Over. The player will have to restart the Qualifying Lap.

Qualifying will enable the player to start in one of the eight available positions. The faster the lap time was, the better the starting position in addition to bonus score points. The number one starting position, is the Pole Position.

During the Grand Prix, the player will compete against the Race Timer as well as against other racing cars. If the player fails to beat the Race Timer in any lap, the player drops out of the race - Game Over. Completing the race by reaching finishing line will grant the player 200 points per each second left on the Race Timer, bonus score for distance covered, and passing bonus points.

Scoring
Every 5 meters driven: 50 points
Passing Car Bonus: 50 points per racing car
Time Bonus: 200 points per second left on the Race Timer

Positions
Pole Position - Lap Time: 58"50 seconds - 4,000 points
2nd Position - Lap Time: 60"00 seconds - 2,000 points
3rd Position - Lap Time: 62"00 seconds - 1,400 points
4th Position - Lap Time: 64"00 seconds - 1,000 points
5th Position - Lap Time: 66"00 seconds - 800 points
6th Position - Lap Time: 68"00 seconds - 600 points
7th Position - Lap Time: 70"00 seconds - 400 points
8th Position - Lap Time: 73"00 seconds - 200 points


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/pole-position
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Popeye
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action - Platform
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
Licensed from: Nintendo
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Popeye is a conversion of the arcade action/platform game. As Popeye, you are trying to win Olive Oyl's love! She is at the top of the screen dropping tokens of her love, and you need to collect them before they hit the ground. After you have collected the required number of items, you can move on to the next, more difficult level. There are many obstacles trying to stop you from completing your task, though! Brutus wanders around the screen and is constantly trying to catch you. If you collect a can of spinach, you can temporarily knock him out, otherwise Brutus will knock you out. Other objects such as bottles or birds are also flying around the screen and will cause you to lose one of your lives if you are hit. Each level features a different layout of platforms and ladders, and will have you collecting different items as they float towards the bottom of the screen!

Trivia:

Two different boxes exist for the TI-99/4A version of Popeye. One box incorrectly shows the part number as "PB 1670", while the other (more common) box correctly shows Popeye as "PB 1650".  


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/popeye
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Princess and Frog
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: LAH Associated
Publisher: Romox
Players: 1
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Help! The prince has been turned into a frog and only the kiss of a princess can change him back. Guide our slimy hero through  jousting knights and menacing reptiles to reach the fair lips of the princess waiting at the castle. Can you help the prince out of this predicament, or shall he remain a frog for eternity?

Trivia:

This game is a clone of Frogger as can seen by the screen shots above.  

LAH Associated programmed this game under contract with Romox. According to Tim McGuinness who was one of the founders of Romox, LAH was headed by Chuck Humphries and was really just another name for Navarone. Why Navarone used LAH as a developer name for its Romox games is a mystery. The one thing that is certain, however, is that Navarone bought out Romox in late 1983/early 1984 and continued producing titles for the TI and other systems.
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Protector II
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Side-Scrolling - Vertical
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Synapse Software Corporation
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1
Programmer: Mike Yantis
Designer: Mike Potter
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An arcade style game with a loose basis on the arcade hit Defender, Protector II is a side-scrolling shooter. Like Defender, there are lots of different aliens to contend with, and some ground based enemies as well. There are no smart bombs, however. You have to rescue humans as well (twice) from both an alien ship, and later a city that will be overrun with lava from a volcano that erupts during the game; all the while protecting them from aliens. You then have to drop them one at a time (unlike Defender, you can only carry one human at a time) into a teleporter tube to get them off the planet entirely. The game is quite difficult, with some very precise flying required at times (probably even more difficult than Defender or Stargate). It also has more of a "plot" than the arcade games it is based on, with several sub-missions of rescue depending on what stage you are at (it should be noted that there is no breaks between "stages" - the whole game play is continuous).

Trivia:

The cartridge for Protector II is actually mislabeled as Protector (without the roman numeral "II" designation). This has lead many to believe that they have found the Atarisoft version of Protector, when in reality it is Protector II. To date, no known version of Protector was ever planned by Atarisoft for the TI-99/4A.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/protector-ii
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Pyramid of Doom
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Designer: Scott Adams
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Number 8 in the Scott Adams adventure series. On an Egyptian treasure hunt, you find yourself deep inside a recently discovered pyramid. Find all the treasures and escape alive! This still uses the same simple 2-word parser as the other ones in the series, and is of moderate difficulty.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/pyramid-of-doom
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Q-bert
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: D. Gottlieb & Co.
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1
Licensed from: Gottlieb
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Q*bert is a conversion of the popular arcade game. The goal is to change all of the tiles on a pyramid to the target color. To do this you guide Q*bert around the pyramid, and every tile he hops on will change color. On early levels, a single hop will change the tile to the desired color, but on later levels you may need to hop on a tile multiple times or even avoid hopping on a tile multiple times! Trying to stop Q*bert are many different creatures which wander around the board, including Coily the snake, Slick and Sam, and falling balls. On the edge of the board are floating discs; if Q*bert jumps on one of these discs when the snake is in pursuit, the snake will fall off the board while Q*bert is safely transported to the top.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/qbert
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Rabbit Trail
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Funware
Publisher: Funware
Players: 1
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Hop along the rabbit trail and crawl through rabbit holes to collect all the carrots. However, you better watch out for weasels, hawks, and traps! Can you gather all your carrots or will you end up on someone's dinner plate? Peter Cottontail never had it this hard! 

Trivia:

In 1983 there were as many as 3 companies interested in buying out Funware, those being Activision, Epyx, and Creative Software. In the end Funware was sold to Creative Software giving Creative a legal way to produce 3rd party TI-99/4A cartridges as Funware was the only 3rd party developer officially licensed to use TI's GROM. However, both Epyx and Activision would later give a go at marketing TI-99/4A games independently near the end of 1983.
 
According to Michael Brouthers, it only cost Funware $4 US to make each cartridge game!
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Return to Pirate's Isle
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Scott Adams
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Created exclusively for the TI, Return to Pirate's Island was the only Scott Adams adventure which did NOT require the TI Adventure cartridge, available separately. It is still subject to debate whether this is truly #14 in the series or whether it does not count since it was only made for the TI.

It uses the same parser and interface as the other games in the series, and challenges you to return to Pirate's Isle in search of treasure yet again.

Trivia:

This is Adventure #14 in the Adventure International series.  

According to Scott Adams, Return To Pirate's Isle "was written especially for the TI and was done from the ground up to have graphics to work on that system AND fit in a cartridge. A first I believe. It was a trial to see how graphic adventures would sell on the system. Sadly to say it came out just as TI decided to get out of the business...If it had worked then the next logical step would have been the Quest Probe series of Marvel characters."  

The graphics for this game were put together differently than most games. According to Scott Adams, " I did all the programming and I had a graphics artist do the artwork. Due to the size of the cartridge we did something unique on this game. Instead of using computer generated compression techniques the pictures were done by creating a palette of shapes that could be put together to form the final pictures. The initial fuzzy picture at the start of the game is an example of that. Its all the components of that picture put together in a random order."  

If you are having a hard time solving this game, check out the full solution done by Michael Javorka, Joe Waters, and Barry Boone. Just enter each word in order when playing the game and you will get all 13 treasures and a perfect score of 100.  

For those that are dying to play this game again on their PC or MAC, check out iFiction's Adventure International page, which includes an all-text version of Return To Pirate's Isle in addition to all of Scott Adams' other adventures.  

In 2003 Scott Adams developed a sequel called Return To Pirate's Island 2 for the PC. It is available for $19.95 through his own web site, Scott Adams Grand Adventures. You might want to check it out if you can get through the original game!  


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/return-to-pirates-isle
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robotfindskitten
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Disk
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Puzzle - Text
Gametype: Homebrew
Release Year: 2007
Players: 1
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In robotfindskitten, the name is the game: You are robot, and you have to find kitten. Sounds simple. 

Problems start with the fact that there are other objects which are not kitten! Even worse: You don't know which objects are kitten and which are not! The only way to differentiate them both is touching. If you touch a non-kitten, you get some quirky phrase, otherwise: robotfindskitten!

The game is a mindless yet meditative and (due to its idiosyncratic humour) quite fun lo-fi adventure-oid with some similarities to roguelikes (all-ASCII, single player, top-down randomized dungeon) and others to Progress Quest. 

It also comes with an impressive base of platforms, having been ported to over 20 systems, encompassing old and new, consoles and home computers. Particularly interesting is the OpenGL 3D Windows version aptly named robotfindskitten3d.

Trivia:

The Macintosh version was ported in 2008 for the 2008 RetroChallenge. It was written in Think Pascal.

For further replay value, a version of the robotfindskitten game concept was implemented into High Impact Games' 2008 PSP release of Secret Agent Clank. Developer Gerard Green reports that Clank already being a robot, having him searching for a kitten was just common sense. Screenshots!

robotfindskitten was created by Leonard Richardson for DOS in 1997 as award winning (and only) submission to a robotfindskitten contest held by a now defunct webzine named "Nerth Pork".


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/robotfindskitten
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Robotron 2084
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Shoot 'em Up - Arcade - Action
Gametype: Prototype
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Atarisoft
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
Licensed from: Williams Electronics
Programmer: Bill Parod
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It's the year 2084 and robots are turning against their masters. Saved by a genetic accident, only you can resist their mutant re-programming and defend humanity. Your mission is to rescue, evade, and destroy. Good luck!

Trivia:

The TI version of Robotron: 2084 was programmed by Bill Parod who was working for Roklan at the time. Roklan was a major behind-the-scenes player in developing arcade translations for various companies, such as Coleco, Parker Brothers, and (in this case) Atarisoft.
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Rotor Raiders
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Maze
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: SJ Software Co
Publisher: Romox
Players: 1
Programmer: Tim McGuinness
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In Rotor Raiders, you explore the vast uncharted regions of enhanced reality beneath out very homes. Through pipes and drains you wind your way to remove those nasty sewer rats, and clear their foot prints from the plumbing. You enter from above; but just when all is going well, the rats show up. First there is one, then two, and more. Every few seconds another rat comes into the pipes while your remote controlled router tries to clean it out... 

Trivia:

According to a June 1983 Romox Price List, the original title for this game was Waterworks.
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Savage Island Series
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Designer: Scott Adams
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On the TI, the two parts of the Savage Island series from Scott Adams were combined into one package. This compilation contains:

Savage Island Part One
Savage Island Part Two


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/savage-island-series
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Schnoz-Ola
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Platform - Isometric
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Funware
Publisher: Funware
Players: 1
Programmer: Ken Stevenson
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Schnoz is trapped inside the Ola-Pyramids, home of the evil Ola-Balls. To escape, he must harvest all the tokens lying on the ground of each pyramid while avoiding the deadly Ola-Balls and bottomless pits. But look out! If Schnoz isn't careful, the evil Ola-Balls will turn him into Schnoz-Ooozela!

Trivia:

In 1983 there were as many as 3 companies interested in buying out Funware, those being Activision, Epyx, and Creative Software. As one might be able to tell from the box scan on this page, Funware was eventually sold to Creative Software. However, both Epyx and Activision would later give a go at marketing TI-99/4A games independently near the end of 1983.

Schnoz-Ola is the last known cartridge to be produced by Funware after the Creative Software buyout. The first cartridge sold by Creative/Funware was St.Nick and is the only other title known to be sold in the Creative/Funware yellow packaging. All other Funware titles were released before the buyout, and therefore sold in different style packaging. 

This game is a clone of the 1983 Atari arcade Crystal Castles. 

According to Michael Brouthers, it only cost Funware $4 US to make each cartridge game!
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Secret Mission
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Designer: Scott Adams
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This is adventure #3 in Scott Adam's text adventure series. It takes place in a nuclear power plant. You must race against time to fulfill your mission or the reactor may be doomed. You use one or two word commands to move around and manipulate objects.

Trivia:

When a certain TV show going by the same name as this game threatened legal action, AI was forced to changed the name, hence the vast array of names seen for this game. Because many boxes had already been printed with the now-illegal name however, rather than just junking them, they rather comically covered up the old name with a horribly ugly gold sticker with the name Secret Mission on it. Apparently this was enough to satisfy the lawyers...


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/secret-mission
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Sewermania
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Maze
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: David Landon, Beverly Starke
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Help Sewer Sam battle ferocious rats and a toothy alligator on his search for a bomb hidden deep in the city's sewer system. If you are swift of foot and quick of wit, you might just have what it takes to help Sam save the city from slimy underground chaos!

Trivia:

This game can be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it

According to early promotional material, the generator located in the upper left corner of the screen was intended to flood the sewer and kill all the rats. This would help the player in locating the bomb since there would be no rats to avoid for a few seconds (although the alligator would still be lurking around). In the released version of the game, however, the generator's functionality was removed making it impossible to flood the sewer. According to programmer Dave Landon the reason for the removal was because the game was initially developed for MB's own video game unit before being brought over the TI-99/4A (read the MBX development history by clicking the link in the above Trivia section). The TI-99/4A's cartridges were smaller in size apparently to what Milton Bradley had envisioned for its own system, so to meet memory constraints the functionality of the generators had to be removed.

This game was designed by both Beverly Starke (Milton Bradley graphics artist) and programmer Dave Landon. According to Dave, Sewermania was MB President Jim Shea's favorite game out of all the MBX titles that were in development. 

Easter Egg Alert!  At the beginning of the game the phrase "Dave, find the bomb" is spoken aloud by the MBX system or the Speech Synthesizer (depending on if you have an MBX system or not). The "Dave" being referred to is programmer Dave Landon.
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Shamus
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Adventure - Multi-Directional
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Synapse Software Corporation
Publisher: Atarisoft
Players: 1
Designer: William Mataga
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A combination of Berzerk and Adventure -- explore over 120 rooms to find the evil enemy.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/shamus
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Slinky
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Isometric
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Cosmi Corporation
Publisher: Cosmi Corporation
Players: 1
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Slinky is a game where you control a spring and jump from block to block and attempt to change all the blocks to a destination color. The game has a very obvious Q*Bert influence. However, there are some original elements as well. 

Various objects float about the screen, like magnets, clouds, raindrops, and other monsters. The monsters are the only one that are a direct threat. The magnets can only grab you if you are not moving. The raindrops actually give you greatly increased speed, and the clouds turn you 'dusty'. Be careful, if you get hit by both a raindrop and a cloud, then your spring rusts and is dragged off by an oil-can.

In addition to having five lives, you also must avoid running out of points. An 8000 point bonus appears briefly over various squares, and you need to catch at least some of them, because every jump decreases your points, and getting 'killed' and knocked off the blocks decreases points even faster.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/slinky
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Slymoids
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Shoot 'em Up - Action - Side-Scrolling
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: James R. Von
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You are the last defense against the hordes of alien Slymoids. Equipped with your handy Slymoid Scanner and Laser Fireball Gun, locate and destroy these strange life forms. But beware! The crafty Slymoids have turned spiders, bats, and even rocks against you!

Trivia:

James Von Ehr II programmed this game along with Sneggit all on his own free time. He was not part of the TI-99/4A development group and as a matter of fact did not even work in the building where the 99/4A was being produced. He instead was working on IC Layout and submitted his games to the 99/4A group through a producer (quite possibly Bob Hendren who designed Moon Mine). One question comes to mind after all these years...What was James doing working on IC Layout instead of developing games for the 99/4A? He was an excellent programmer and designer that would have brought some really neat game ideas to the table, especially if he started working in the 99/4A group since the machine's launch.

Here's an interesting factoid from James Von Ehr II, "TI was worried about the theme music, thinking I swiped it from someone (guess it seemed too good for a programmer nerd). I actually had composed a crude version of it a couple of years earlier on my home-built analog synthesizer, controlled by an Apple II computer running my custom software."

Easter Egg Alert! Even though James Von Ehr II is credited as being the programmer on Slymoids' title screen, there is still an Easter Egg hidden in the game. Inside of the castle the initials "JVONEHR" and "GVONEHR" can be found on the frame surrounding the swords hanging on the wall (see the last screen shot above). Obviously, "JVONEHR" stands for programmer James Von Ehr II, however, "GVONEHR" is a little trickier to figure out unless you know a little bit about the guy...It stands for his wife Gayla. She helped provide some design suggestions for the game, and in return he included her initials on the sword frame.
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Sneggit
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Fixed
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: James R. Von
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Evil reptilian forces have penetrated the barnyard, wreaking havoc. Gather your eggs to safety before they can be devouered by the hungry poisonous snakes. Be extra careful though...the snakes missed breakfast and are hungry enough to even swallow a whole chicken! 

Trivia:

James Von Ehr II programmed this game along with Slymoids all on his own free time. He was not part of the TI-99/4A development group and as a matter of fact did not even work in the building where the 99/4A was being produced. He instead was working on IC Layout and submitted his games to the 99/4A group through a producer (quite possibly Bob Hendren who designed Moon Mine). One question comes to mind after all these years...What was James doing working on IC Layout instead of developing games for the 99/4A? He was an excellent programmer and designer that would have brought some really neat game ideas to the table, especially if he started working in the 99/4A group since the machine's launch.

The name Sneggit comes from the combination of 3 elements in the game: Snake, Egg, and Get.

Easter Egg Alert! According to James Von Ehr II, there is an Easter Egg in this game but it would be very hard to figure out on your own! The possible location of the egg baskets are arranged in the initials "JVH". Meaning that 3 egg baskets are placed on the screen randomly, but in the pattern of "JVH". If one were to play the game enough and keep track of the basket locations, his initials would be spelled out.
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Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Disk
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Graphic - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Adventure International
Players: 1
Programmer: l
Designer: Scott Adams
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Number 13 in the Adventure series from Scott Adams, and the first which was never released in all-text format (except for BBC, Electron, Dragon and TRS-80 versions). Solon, the Master Wizard has lost the 13 Stars of Power. It is up to you, his faithful apprentice, to retrieve them from Claymorgue Castle.

This is similar to the other SAGA games in the series. Additionally, there is some use of magic of course!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/sorcerer-of-claymorgue-castle
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Soundtrack Trolley
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Music
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Joyce Hakansoon Associates
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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All aboard! Here comes the merry bandwagon, rocking and rolling along the tracks picking up some cool musicians on the way. See if you have what it takes to assemble an all-star band that can top the charts!

Trivia:

Joyce Hakansson who's company developed I'm Hiding, Honey Hunt, Green Muck, and Mail Drop in addition to Soundtrack Trolley had this to say on the development of her company's MB games, "My involvement with Milton Bradley started when I worked as a consultant for Sesame Street. I started a computer production group for Sesame Street. We actually brought the first computers to the workshop in 1979 - a lifetime ago. My group designed more than 56 activities for the playpark, Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. I was a consultant because I lived here in the Bay Area of California with my family and we were not ready to move to N.Y., and frankly I don't think anyone thought that software production would be a long term part of the organization. I was brought on to get Sesame Place up and running without a commitment beyond that. So I commuted between SF and NY. When the computer facility at Sesame Place was a success I was asked to stay, which I did for a second year and then I had to return home. The workshop agreed that I could start a production group here that would be under the control of Sesame Street. Milton Bradley was the first client for my group. When I became independent 6 months later I changed our name and MB contracted with me for the TI products. We had agreed to produce six titles (I think, I would have to look it up to say for sure) for them. The only one that used speech recognition was I'm Hiding. Originally, MB was going to manufacture their own game player to compete with the original Atari, but changed their mind when Coleco came out with the Colecovision, their game machine. That is when the switch was made to produce for the TI machine with the MB add on. Of course the rest is history."

This game can be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it.
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St. Nick
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Fixed
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Funware
Publisher: Funware
Players: 1
Programmer: Maxine Bobco
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Wicked witches have swooped down on poor old St. Nick as he prepares for Christmas. They've cast evil spells on the elves, who are scattering toys everywhere. Help St. Nick collect the toys in time or he'll be late for Christmas! 

Trivia:

In 1983 there were as many as 3 companies interested in buying out Funware, those being Activision, Epyx, and Creative Software. As one might be able to tell from the box scan on this page, Funware was eventually sold to Creative Software. However, both Epyx and Activision would later give a go at marketing TI-99/4A games independently near the end of 1983.

St. Nick was the first title Funware released after being bought out in the Summer of 1983 by Creative Software.  

According to Michael Brouthers, it only cost Funware $4 US to make each cartridge game!
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Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action - Sci-Fi
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: SEGA Enterprises Ltd.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator is an arcade action game where you take control of the Starship Enterprise. Your mission is to save the Federation from NOMAD! Before you get a chance at destroying NOMAD, you'll have to battle your way through ten levels (each consisting of multiple rounds). In each round you may encounter Klingon fighters, deadly anti-matter saucers, asteroid fields, and deadly meteors, all of which are capable of depleting the Enterprises energy. The game ends when your energy supply has completely run out. To fight these dangers, the Enterprise is equipped with an unlimited supply of phasers and a limited supply of photon torpedoes. Each round also contains one or more starbases; if you dock at a starbase, some of your supplies (such as energy and torpedoes) will be replenished. The game is played from two points of view; the top of the screen contains a third person view of the Enterprise (along with the ships gauges), and on the bottom of the screen is a first person point of view

Trivia:

The TI-99/4A version takes advantage of the platform's speech synthesizer accessory, providing audible announcements of progress and game events.

The Manual for Star Trek, that was released by Texas Instruments, actually has the picture flipped around. If you look at it, the laser beam being shot at the USS Enterprise is coming from the right hand side of the manual, in all other versions of the game it comes from the left (such as in the Atari 5200 version). If one looks more closely at the manual, you will be able to see that it is not just the laser coming from the opposite side, but the entire picture that is flipped around! As to why this happened, I don't know. Maybe TI thought the picture looked better this way? It is interesting to note that the TI-99/4A 2Q/1983 3rd Party Sega version of this game has a manual with the picture in the correct position, so it was obviously something TI altered for their release of the game which came out a few months later.

Secret Code Alert!  If you press the buttons "* # *" (in that sequence) on the title screen, it will take you to a cheat mode where you will have an infinite amount of Shield Power, Photons, and Warp Drive. One drawback, however, is that all the enemies will be shooting and flying at top speed from the beginning of the game. This shouldn't be too much of a problem though, since you cannot be killed or run out of ammunition!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/star-trek-strategic-operations-simulator
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Starship Pegasus
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Shoot 'em Up - Arcade - Sci-Fi
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Steve Zello
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Alert! Enemy spacecrafts are approaching from every direction! Help defend the Starship Pegasus from destruction so it can safely deliver top secret battle plans to its home planet Zinthea. Failure to do so will allow the galaxy to fall under the evil rule of Lord Zarlop. The future of outer space is in your hands!

Trivia:

This game is a clone of the arcade game Space Zap (Bally Midway, 1980).

Up to 4 players can play this game, though not simultaneously (at least not on a TI system without an MBX device). It is unknown if Milton Bradley was planning on releasing a 4 way joystick adapter to allow for all 4 players to play at once, since there were rumors that MB was developing add-ons for the MBX system (such as a foodpad). It would not be surprising if this game was meant to take advantage of a certain expansion, since it is the only game from any company on the TI to allow 4 players to compete. In addition there are 4 directions that the ship can shoot in, making it possible for 4 players to all participate at the same time. However, this is all speculation, as playing it on a TI without an MBX system only allows for one player at a time to play.

This game can be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it.
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Story Machine
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Educational
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: DesignWare, Inc.
Publisher: Spinnaker Software Corporation
Players: 1
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Story Machine is a product aimed at children for teaching language skills. 

The product contains animations assigned to key nouns, and verbs. By typing phrases such as "The Girl Jumps Over the Flower" will show the player an animation of a girl jumping over a flower. Through this method, players are able to create short "stories" of about 40 words long and have the computer animate them. These stories are also limited to having 4 "actors" (animated noun objects) in each.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/story-machine
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Strange Odyssey
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Designer: Scott Adams
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Strange Odyssey is the sixth game of the Scott Adams text adventures series, marketed by Scott's company, Adventure International. It is an old-style text adventure sporting a two word parser and split screen interface.

You play a space traveller whose space ship breaks down while orbiting a remote asteroid. Starting with only a phase pistol, space suit, and shovel, our mission is to collect 5 alien treasures and link back up with your mothership.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/strange-odyssey
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Super Demon Attack
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Shoot 'em Up - Static
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Smith/Western Games
Designer: Rob Fulop
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Demon Attack is an arcade action game with gameplay similar to Space Invaders. You control a laser canon at the bottom of the screen, and need to destroy wave after wave of brightly colored demons. The demons bounce around the screen in bizarre patterns, and try to destroy your canon with bombs or lasers. When you shoot a demon, it will be replaced with another or will split into two smaller demons depending on which wave you are playing. When the required number of demons for the current round is finally destroyed, you can move on to the next, more difficult round.

Trivia:

In 1982 Atari sued Imagic due to Demon Attack's similarity to Phoenix.

This game is a port of the Atari 2600 Demon Attack, which was developed by Rob Fulop for Imagic. According to former TI employee Bill Barneia, the TI version of Demon Attack was changed to Super Demon Attack for marketing reasons. The thought was that if "Super" was added to the title, it would sound like a sequel (and therefore an improvement) to the original Atari 2600 version of the game. The idea to change the title must have been a late addition, since the Game Selection screen on the TI still says Demon Attack, as does the game's title screen. Also, a manual for Demon Attack (without "Super" in the title) can be found in a 1983 game catalog put out by TI, and in the Spring 1984 Triton catalog. This begs the question if any cartridges/manuals made it out the door with the name Demon Attack on them. But Classic Gamers rest assured, this title is indeed a port of the famous Demon Attack since I know there was some speculation on if this was a port of the original or an actual sequel.


The original version of Super Demon Attack for the TI actually used voice, which was later taken out for unknown reasons. I am lucky enough to have a beta version of the game, and a voice with an English accent makes comments on your shooting as you play. It's really a shame it was taken out.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/demon-attack
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Superfly
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Fixed
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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Look! It's a bird, it's plane, it's Superfly! Superfly is a mutant insect that can leap tall alien spiders (and other enemy bugs) in a single bound. Armed with deadly fire power and lethal exterminating spray, it's up to him to save the day!

Trivia:

This game can be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it.

Superfly is actually a sequel to the ever popular The Attack game which came out 2 years earlier, in 1981. Both games were programmed by Milton Bradley on the TI-99/4A. Considering the success The Attack had when it came to market it's no wonder that a follow-up was developed.
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Suspended
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Disk
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Infocom, Inc.
Publisher: Infocom, Inc.
Players: 1
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On a space settlement named Contra, a human being serves as a regulator for the planet's vital systems: he controls transportation, weather, and manages resources all while being in a deep sleep, through the neural power of his brain. Such a regulator is called Central Mentality. However, after five hundred years of stasis, the current Central Mentality suddenly awakens, greatly troubled by reports of computer malfunctioning and resulting problems in weather condition, food production, and transport. He must now act, and act quickly: the crew members assumed that he has gone insane, and are coming to disconnect his mind. But what can he do if his state of suspended animation prevents him from moving?

Suspended is a text adventure game with a twist: instead of navigating the protagonist, the player indirectly controls six robots that do his bidding, exploring the environment and interacting with it. Each robot has different functions and has its own way of seeing reality and reacting to events around it. Iris is the only robot that can see and therefore visually describe locations and objects; Whiz can provide technical information obtained from computers; the sonar-powered Waldo is good at holding items; Auda is an expert in sounds; the cryptically speaking Poet senses the flow of electric currents; finally, Sensa can detect magnetic and photon emissions. The player advances in the game by using the different abilities of the robots and solving puzzles.

Trivia:

Difficulty

Suspended has a number of preset difficulty levels, increasing (or decreasing) the difficulty of the game as a whole. There was also a "custom" difficulty setting, which allowed you to manually set various parameters in the game. (At which turn do the earthquakes happen? At which turn does the coolant system fail? At which turn does the human troubleshooter-team arrive? What is the initial positions of the six robots? And so on.)

But, humorously, there was also a pre-set "Impossible" difficulty setting, and it lived up to its word - if you chose this setting, the sun explodes within the first few turns, dooming the entire planet. Infocom (jokingly) offered a reward to anyone who could complete the game on the Impossible setting. Needless to say, nobody ever won that contest.

Extras

The game originally shipped with a plastic mapboard of the facility and 5 vinal counters for the robots. This was to help you visualize where everybody was during the game.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/suspended
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Terry Turtle's Adventure
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Adventure
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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It's spring, but Terry Turtle is lost in the forest and he has to get home before winter! Crossing through meadows and brooks, across logs and rocks, many dangers lurk in the shadows. Of course, avoiding all these baddies makes a turtle hungry, so be sure to gather as many strawberries as you can along the way.

Trivia:

This game along with Championship Baseball and I'm Hiding were offered for sale as 3rd party cartridges from Milton Bradley in addition to being sold through TI (this page is for the version sold through TI). The 3rd party releases came with different labels and cases than the cartridge pictured on this page. The 3 titles MB offered for sale independent of TI were the ones that required an MBX system in order to run, which helps explain why MB would have sold these as a 3rd party since they were responsible for manufacturing the actual MBX system. The 3rd party releases are extremely hard to come by, as only one MB release has been found to date and that being I'm Hiding.

This game MUST be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it. The reason for the MBX requirement is because the game requires the player to control the turtle's movements through either voice recognition or by keypad. Since there are many functions the turtle can perform, such as digging, eating, climbing, etc. the Action-Input Keypad is needed along with an overlay telling the player what button performs which action.
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TI Invaders
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Shoot 'em Up - Static
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Garth Dollahite
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TI Invaders is a clone of the game Space Invaders and features similar gameplay. You control a canon at the bottom of the screen, and need to destroy the rows of bomb-dropping invaders! The invaders march back and forth on the screen; each time the edge of the screen is reached, they drop a row closer towards the bottom. If they reach the bottom of the screen before you destroy them, the game will be over. Destroy all the invaders, and you move on to the next, more difficult level. Occasionally, a flying saucer will appear at the top of the screen; this can be shot for bonus points. Between levels you will also have an opportunity to earn bonus points by shooting the saucer as many times as possible before it flies off the screen.

Trivia:

This game is a clone of the immensely popular 1978 Space Invaders arcade game. The original arcade was made in Japan by Taito and then licensed out to Bally/Midway for U.S. distribution. 

Space Invaders has to be one of the most widely cloned arcades in the history of video games. Almost every system that was on the market back in the early 80's had their own version of this game, not to mention all the numerous clones that have been made since then!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/ti-invaders
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Tombstone City: 21st Century
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick, Keyboard
Genre: Action - Top Down - Sci-Fi
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1981
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: John Plaster
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Aliens called "Morgs" are invading the old west. You must destroy them by shooting them from your "schooner". When you kill them, they turn into cactuses which create obstacles on the map. But if you kill a Morg while it is adjacent to an existing cactus, the Morg and the cactus are both eliminated from the map.

Trivia:

TI released the source code to this game as part of its Editor/Assembler package.

Some great game development stories were provided by John Plaster during an interview back in early 1982 with "99er Magazine". The interview was about his latest game, Tombstone City: 21st Century, and excerpts from it are provided below. Be warned, there is an explosive amount of interesting information contained here!

How about specifics of the game...how did these develop?

It was really what you'd consider spontaneous. I started putting the game together in April and got a working version of it in May. There really wasn't a whole lot of forethought to it. I started putting it on the screen as fast as I thought of it. So, from the conception of the idea, to the completion of the basics, we're talking about a four-week period.

Did the basic game scenario change any as the programming evolved?

First of all, there wasn't any real scenario at the beginning. It was just a capture-type game: monsters attack ships, and ships shoot monsters. When the game was just about completed, a full scenario was developed to fit the game elements. Management really had some problems rationalizing my Western-type background with a space theme. At first, my scenario consisted of an old ghost town being taken over by the government for a nuclear power site, with the inevitable nuclear accident occurring that causes the monsters to be generated...Somewhere along the line, management got upset by the idea of anything nuclear happening-especially a nuclear accident-so that scenario was completely thrown out, and eventually settled on the present Tombstone City: 21st Century [in which players find themselves in the 21st Century in an Old West ghost town threatened by an invading hoard of green alien monsters-villainous creatures called morgs who live on tumbleweeds and people].

How did you feel letting the game go after the final polishing was done?

Overall, I felt pretty good about the game. I was a little upset about a few things. One thing that I guess didn't make a whole lot of difference was the title of the game. They changed it from its original title [Saguaro City] to Tombstone City: 21st Century - the 21st Century to sort of justify the Western-based conflict. The other thing that I had to change was the actual tombstones to saguaro cactus. What are saguaro now were originally old Western-type crosses-with the two sticks forming a cross. That was objected to because of religious reasons. It made a little bit more sense originally when you actually had the tombstones in there. So when the tombstones were taken out and replaced with the saguaro cactus, it didn't make as much sense to me...but I guess it's not a big difference.

What final tips can you offer to players of the game?

The whole key for beginning players is to kill the monsters immediately when they've generated. This also goes for any player regardless of skill. You must know beforehand when the monster is coming out, and exactly where it is coming out from so that you can immediately shoot it to destroy the generating pair. For the more advanced player, keeping the safe area clear is probably the most important thing; you can't afford to kill the monsters next to the safe area. If this happens, try to set it up where you can use your "dragging" tactic to move the cactus away from the safe area.

As stated in the interview above, the original name of Tombstone City: 21st Century was Saguaro City. Click on the link to the left to see screen shots of the original game.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/tombstone-city-21st-century
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Treasure Island
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Action - Adventure
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Data East
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
_________________________
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Treasure Island is sinking! Your only hope for survival lies at the top of the island. Can you grab the treasures and escape the monsters and gorillas in time to climb to safety?

Trivia:

This game is a port of Data East's 1981 arcade game Treasure Island.

A prototype version of this game exists, where the enemies are nicely drawn multi-colored cavemen instead of single-colored monsters. The only logical reason for why Data East chose to go with the monsters was due to game speed, since the cavemen are made up of 3 sprites and and the monsters only 1 sprite. The more sprites that exist on screen sometimes slow the pace of the game down and cause the characters to flicker. It's really a shame that the sprites were reduced, since the cavemen looked pretty cool in the original version.
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Tunnels of Doom
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape, Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Role Playing Game - Top Down - Turnbased
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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One of the first graphical computer role-playing games, Tunnels of Doom puts the players in control of up to four characters in a single party, to explore the dangerous Tunnels of Doom, fight monsters, and collect treasure. The four characters can be controlled by one player as a party, or by up to four players, each choosing an action during battles.

There are four different character classes available: Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Hero. The latter can be selected only if he is the only character in the party. Enemies appear randomly, and the battles are turn-based. Various treasure is scattered around the dungeon; the player also has the option of buying certain equipment. In some places, fountains can be found; drinking from them will affect the party in different ways, positive or negative.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/tunnels-of-doom
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Tutankham
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Arcade - Shooter - Side-Scrolling
Gametype: Prototype
Release Year: 1984
Developer: Konami Industry Co. Ltd
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
Licensed from: Konami
Programmer: Steven A. Zedeck
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Tutankham is an arcade action game played from a top down point of view. You are an explorer in King Tut's tomb on a mission to retrieve as many of the valuable treasures as you can find. In addition to the treasures, you will also find a key in each of the chambers. This is needed in order to unlock the entrance to the next, more difficult chamber. Be careful, for the tomb is guarded by many dangerous creatures! Cobras, bats, scorpions, and more all appear in the maze and will cause you to lose a life if you're caught! To defend yourself you are armed with a laser gun which you can fire left or right, but not up or down. In each of the mazes you are also give one "flash" which can be used to destroy all creatures currently on the screen.

Trivia:

Parker Brothers ran a "Fight the Pharaoh" contest that if you sent an entry on a 3x5 piece of paper with your name, address and zip code to their contest address, you could win the grand prize of $3000 in video games or equipment or 1 of 100 Super Cobra video games or 1 of 2000 "I Fought the Pharaoh" t-shirts. Here is a poster advertising the contest and game.

This game is a port of the 1982 Konami arcade Tutankham.

Steven Zedeck and George French (programmer of Tutankham on the Colecovision) collaborated in creating  the graphics for Tutankham on both the Colecovision and TI-99/4A. This is one of the reasons why the TI and Colecovision versions look practically identical, with only a few variations here and there. This was not too unheard of back then, since both the TI and Colecovision shared the same graphics chip, the TMS9918A.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/tutankham
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Video Chess
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Board Game - Chess
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1979
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1 or 2 VS
Programmer: Tom Merrow
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Choose your own opponent - or play against the computer, on any 3 levels. With Video Chess, your computer can serve as a willing teacher - or a challenging opponent.

Trivia:

here was also a game called Video Chess released on the Atari 2600 in 1979, programmed by Bob Whitehead and Larry Wagner. Even though both the Atari 2600 and TI-99/4A games share the same title and release date, they share no relation beyond both being computer adaptations of Chess.

This cartridge was designed with the help of International Chess Master David Levy, and it shows. Video Chess can be quite challenging on higher levels of play and is highly recommended for anyone who wants to take on David Levy in digitized form! After working on this game, David went on to create other versions of Chess on various systems.
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Video Games 1
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1980
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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Exciting arcade fun for 1 or 2 players. Practice your aim with Pot-Shot, try your skill at Pinball, or trap your opponent with Doodle. Three games triple the action!

Trivia:

Video Games 1 is a compilation of 3 small video games on one cartridge (Pot-Shot, Pinball, and Doodle). The most interesting titles on the cartridge are Pinball and Pot-Shot (Pot-Shot in a way reminds one of Duck Hunt for the NES), while Doodle is almost like a poor man's version of Hustle.
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Video Vegas
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Gambling - Slot Machine
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Funware
Publisher: Funware
Players: 1
Programmer: Jeff Piercy
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Test your luck at the most realistic slot machine outside of Las Vegas. Attempt to double or triple your money all on the pull of a handle! (Note: this game is not intended to be used as a gambling device)

Trivia:

In 1983 there were as many as 3 companies interested in buying out Funware, those being Activision, Epyx, and Creative Software. In the end Funware was sold to Creative Software, but, both Epyx and Activision would later give a go at marketing TI-99/4A games independently near the end of 1983.

Video Vegas was Funware's first game released to the public. According to Michael Brouthers (president of Funware), Video Vegas was actually programmed by an employee at Texas Instruments prior to the founding of Funware. It was used simply to get Funware into the marketplace and let people know that a new TI-99/4A cartridge manufacturer was out there. This helps explain the reason why the game is inferior to all of the later titles Funware put out, since it was basically a demo game for the public to see that Michael Brouthers' company was committed to releasing TI cartridges. In addition, Video Vegas never appeared in the company's 1983 catalog, which helps further show that it was indeed only a stepping stone.

According to Michael Brouthers, it only cost Funware $4 US to make each cartridge game!
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Voodoo Castle
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Tape
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Adventure International
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Designer: Scott Adams
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The Count of Monte Cristo was eventually consumed entirely by his drive for revenge. Count Cristo, on the other hand, is merely the victim of a Voodoo curse an enemy hexed him with... an external plague more possible to reverse. Starting the game standing over his coffin, you wander the length and breadth of his castle in pursuit of a recipe and the verbal and material components needed to cast an antidote to counter his occult menace. It contains good-luck charms, the sorts of mad scientist chemical concoctions that might well yield a Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation, a flighty medium and her crystal ball, and no small quantity of juju, useful for all sorts of voodoo applications. All that and a chimneysweep trapped in the flue! The player will navigate all these and more with the trademark Adventure International VERB NOUN two-word text parser.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/voodoo-castle
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Wing War
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Fantasy
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Imagic
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
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Wing War is an action game where you control a dragon. Beginning in your underground cave, your goal is to capture a sparkling diamond. To do this, you will first need to unlock the secret passage by bringing a fire, water and air crystal back to your cave. Crystals can be found by exploring the various locations available, usually you will need to destroy one of the many enemies so they turn into a crystal. Fire and water crystals can not be in the cave alone at the same time, an air crystal must be placed between them; so you will need to bring back the crystals in the order fire, air, water or water, air, fire. Once you've done this a super crystal is formed unlocking the secret passage so you can try to get the diamond! Your dragon has a limited amount of energy; being hit by enemies will cause the energy to deplete, and the game ends when all of your dragons have lost all their energy.

Trivia:

You can blast through the bottom portion of the wall in the lower right part of the cavern. Just keep shooting fireballs at the wall and maneuver your way through. This leads to a secret tunnel with 2 ghosts (see last screen shot above), and beyond that an enemy that speaks "attack if you dare" where you can get all kinds of goodies after defeating him. 

According to an internal TI release schedule, this game was released on 12/8/1983 and was one of the last planned releases after TI left the market.

An early prototype version of this game exists with a nice multi-colored dragon, rounder shaped crystals, and a different status bar on the bottom of the screen. In addition it lacks the volcano which can be found in the final version of the game. While the dragon might look nicer in this early version, he has no animation at all. It can only be assumed that either animation would have been added later or that the dragon was composed of too many sprites to make nice smooth movements. In the end, the dragon that came out in the final version of the game was nicer than the more colorful one due to its very well done animation. Also, the animated dragon in the status bar was a nice touch by whoever put that feature in.

Flap! was the original name for Wing War.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/wing-war
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Yahtzee
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Board Game
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1979
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Milton Bradley Co.
Players: 1 or 2 VS
Programmer: Elaine Henshon
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You roll a two, a three, a four, and two fives. Do you try for your fives or go for a large straight? All the action of the popular dice game in a Milton Bradley video game cartridge!

Trivia:

This game was part of the Milton Bradley Gamevision series, which consisted of 7 cartridges (Connect Four, Yahtzee, Hangman, Zero Zap, Card Sharp, Stratego, and the Gamevision Demonstration Cartridge ). These 7 cartridges were the launch titles for the TI-99/4 in 1979.
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Zero Zap
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Pinball
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1979
Developer: Milton Bradley Co.
Publisher: Milton Bradley Co.
Players: 1
Programmer: Herb Schmitz
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Ping! Bang! Boing! Do you have what it takes to become a pinball wizard? Find out in Zero Zap, where the excitement of the real thing comes into your home!

Trivia:

This game was part of the Milton Bradley Gamevision series, which consisted of 7 cartridges (Connect Four, Yahtzee, Hangman, Zero Zap, Card Sharp, Stratego, and the Gamevision Demonstration Cartridge ). These 7 cartridges were the launch titles for the TI-99/4 in 1979.
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